•^^v     . 


l\ 


LIFE  AND  CHARACTER 


HON.  WILLIAM  A.  GRAHAM 


A  MEMORIAL  ORATION, 

BY 

MONTFORD   McGEHEE,  ESQ., 

DELIVEKED 

BEFORE  THE  BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  THE  SUPREME  COURT,  IN 

THE  HALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  IN 

RALEIGH,  JUNE  8,  187G. 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2011  witii  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://www.archive.org/details/lifecharacterofh71mcge 


"^^  ^^ 


LIFE  AND  CHARACTER 


HON.  WILLIAM  A.  GRAHAM 


A  MEMORIAL  ORATIOX, 


MONTFORD   McGEIIEE,  ESQ. 


DELIVEKED 


BEFORE  THE  BENCH  AND  BAR  OF  T[IE  SUPREME  COURT,  TM 

THE  HALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  IN 

RALEIGH,  JUNE  8,  187G. 


RALEIGH: 

NEWS  JOB  OFFICE  AND  BOOK  BINDERY. 

1877. 


ORATION. 


Gentlemen  of  the  Judiciary  and  Bar: 

Wlien  I  learned  that,  under  a  resolution  adopted  by  the 
Bench  and  Bar  of  the  Supreme  Court,  I  had  been  appointed 
to  deliver  an  "Address  on  the  Life  and  Character  of  the 
Hon.  William  A.  Graham,"  I  stayed  not  to  question  my  own 
i^ufficienc}^  for  the  duty  to  which  you  assigned  me.  Coming 
from  such  a  source,  the  appointment  had  to  me  somewhat 
the  force  of  a  command.  JSTo  commajid,  hovrever,  could 
have  been  more  grateful,  since  it  had  for  its  object  to  do 
lionor  to  one  for  whom  I  have  ever  cherished  a  veneration 
and  aiicctiou  which  hardly  knew  a  limit. 

One  word  will  bo  permitted  me  as  to  the  manner  in  Avhich 
this  duty  lias  been  performed.  It  will  be  seen  that  my  sole 
object  has  been  to  present  a  faithful  sketch  of  the  life  of  this 
illustrious  man,  together  w'ith  such  reflections  as  naturally 
arose  out  of  a  study  of  his  career — such  as  were  suggested 
b}'  a  consideratioii  of  his  labors,  his  motives  and  his  aims. 

I  have  adopted  this  course  from  a  profound  conviction  that 
the  truest  narrative  of  his  life  would  be  his  best  monument; 
that  the  highest  eulogy  that  could  be  pronounced  upon  him 
■would  bo  to  present  him  just  as  he  was. 

In  the  execution  of  this  design  I  have  been  led  to  touch, 

at' One  point,  ujion  that  period  of  our  own  history  when  the 

existing  political  parties  of  the  day  had  their  origin,  and  when 

■  i^olitical  feeling  Avas  very  much  embittered;  at  another,  to  a 

=  somewhat  extended  examination  of  a  statement  contained!  in 

a  recent  address  published'  in   Oar  Living  an<J  Our  De<uL 


(4) 

In  the  former  will  be  seen,  I  trust,  no  trace  of  partisam 
feeling;  in  the  latter  no  purpose  other  than  to  elucidate  the- 
truth  of  history. 

William  Alexander  Graham  was  born  on  the  5th  day  of 
September,  1804,  in  the  county  of  Lincoln.  lie  was  for- 
tunate alike  in  the  race  from  which  he  sprang  and  in  his  own 
ancestry.  The  race  was  that  which,  by  a  change  of  residence- 
from  Scotland  to  Ireland,  anterior  to  its  immigration  to  this, 
country,  acquired,  as  it  were,  a  double  nationality  and  name^ 
to-\vit:  Scotch-Irisb.  It  was  a  people  of  marked  character- 
istics. By  their  residence  among  the  Irish  they  seemed  to 
have  added  somewhat  of  the  fervor  of  mind  and  feeling- 
which  distinguishes  that  race,  to  the  clear  intelligence,  strong- 
will  and  shrewd  sagacity  of  their  mother  country.  They^ 
were  noted  for  their  unconquerable  attachment  to  the  great 
princii>les  of  liberty.  They  speculated  Avith  the  coolness 
and  sagacity  of  the  Scotchman  upon  the  functions  and  limit- 
ations of  government,  and,  like  the  Irishman,  they  kindled 
into  flame  upon  any  invasion  of  their  rights.  They  were 
Presbyterian  in  their  tenets,  and  devoted  to  that  form  of 
worship.  Wherever  they  went  the  minister  went  with 
them;  amid  all  the  chances  and  change? of  life  he  was  there- 
to instruct,  to  encourage  and  console.  The  polity  of  that 
church  demanded  a  learned  ministry,  and  the  minister  was. 
almost  always  a  secular  as  well  as  sacred  teacher ;  hence,, 
wherever  they  established  themselves,  liberal  education  was 
fostered  and  classical  learning  taught.  In  Mecklenburg  and 
the  neighboring  counties  they  earnestly  sought,  while  ]S"orth 
Carolina  was  yet  a  colony,  to  found  a  college.  Twice  was  a, 
charter  granted  by  the  Legislature,  and  twice  disallowed  by 
the  King.  Charters  were  granted  to  institutions,  the  instruc- 
tors of  which  were  members  of  the  Church  of  England ;  they 
were  denied  where  the  instructors  were  of  the  Presbyterian 
faith.  "  The  faith  of  Calvin,"  says  Bancroft,  "  has  ever  been* 
feared  as  the  creed  of-  Republicanism." 


(5) 

Earlj'in  our  colonial  history  they  signalized  their  zeal  for 
•civil  and  political  liberty.  The  political  disturbances  an- 
terior to  the  Revolution,  which  issued  in  the  Mecklenburg 
Declaration  of  Independence,  were  the  outgrowth  of  this 
.spirit.  This  spirit  was  not  the  offspring  of  a  vague  enthu- 
isiasin.  No  people  ever  had  clearer  conceptions  of  the  objects 
they  sought  to  compass.  "  The  genuine  sense  of  America  at 
that  moment,"  said  the  elder  Adams,  speaking  of  the  Meck- 
lenburg Declaration,  "  was  never  so  well  expressed  before 
jnor  since." 

The  ancestry  of  Mr.  Graham  were  deeply  imbued  with  the 
:spirit  of  this  people.  His  maternal  grandfather.  Major  John 
Davidson,  was  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Mecklenburg 
Declaration,  and  acted  a  conspicuous  jiart  in  the  Eovolution. 
The  name  of  his  father,  General  Jose^ih  Graham,  is  one  of 
the  best  known  in  our  Eevolutionary  annals.  The  bio- 
graphical sketch  incorporated  into  Wheeler's  History  is  a 
brief  but  noble  record.  He  entered  the  army  at  nineteen 
_}'ears  of  age.  At  the  end  of  two  years  of  arduous  and  respon- 
sible service  he  was  stricken  down  by  a  severe  and  lingering 
illness,  but  returning  health  found  him  again  in  the  field. 
When  the  war  invaded  his  own  section,  and  the  army  under 
General  Greene  withdrew  towards  Yiro-inia,  to  him  was 
assigned  the  command  of  those  troops  which  sustained  the 
rear-guard  under  General  Davie.  For  many  miles  he  was 
confronted  with  the  troops  of  Tarloton,  the  best  body  of 
■cavalry  in  the  British  service.  The  obstinate  resistance 
which  he  opposed  to  their  intrepid  advance  had  nearly  closed 
his  career.  After  many  gallant  but  ineffectual  attempts  to 
drive  back  the  enemy,  he  at  length  fell,  literally  covered 
with  wounds.  When  his  wounds  were  healed  he  again  took 
the  field.  The  service  which  now  fell  to  his  lot  was  one  of 
peculiar  privation,  suffering  and  sacrifice  :  commissary  stores, 
liis  command  often  had  none;  nay,  were  sometimes  under 
the  necessity  of  suppljnng  their  own  horses  and  purchasing 
their  own  equipments.     But  his  patriotism  was  entire  and 


uncalc'ulatiiig  ;  he  rocked  not  of  means,  health  or  lite  "itself  in 
the  caiLse  to  which  he  had  devoted  himself.  Suffice  it  that 
he  continued  in  the  field  as  lon^-  as  there  was  in  the  country 
an  enemy  under  arms ;  and  though  he  had,  when  peace  was 
declared,  but  entered  on  the  threshold  of  manhood,  he  had 
commanded  in  fifteen  difl:erent  eno-aji-eraents. 

In  civil  life  he  was  scarcely  less  distinguished  ;  the  many 
important  positions  filled  by  him  att'ord  the  highest  testi- 
mony to  his  capacit}^  and  character.  It  is  to  be  regretted 
that  we  have  no  extended  biography  of  one  who  so  well 
illustrated  the  character  of  the  soldier  and  the  citizen. 

His  mother  was  distinguished  for  her  personal  beauty^ — 
distinguished  as  well  for  her  sense,  piet}^  and  many  amiable 
virtues.  But  death  deprived  him  of  her  fostering  care 
before  he  had  attained  his  fourth  year,  and  he  was  then  con- 
signed to  the  care  of  an  elder  sister.  The  tender  aftection 
and  respect  with  which  he  always  referred  to  this  sister, 
attests  how  fully  she  discharged  a  mother's  duty. 

lie  received  the  rudiments  of  his  education  in  the  coni- 
mon  schools  of  the  country.  He  commenced  liis  classical 
education  in  the  Academy  at  Statesville,  then  under  the  care 
of  the  Rev.  Dr.  jNIuchat,  a  scholar  of  good  repute.  Mv.  Gra- 
ham verified  the  apparent  pai'adox  of  Wordsworth, 

"  The  child  is  father  of  the  man." 

He  was  noted,  from  his  earliest  years,  for  his  industry,  his 
thirst  for  knovvdedge  and  his  aptitude  to  learn.  One  who 
knew  him  well*  testifies  that  from  his  childhood  he  was  no 
less  remarkable  for  his  high  sense  of  truth  and  honor  than 
for  his  exemption  from  the  levities  and  vices  common  to 
youth.  At  this  Academy  he  applied  himself  to  his  studies 
with  the  most  exemplary  diligence.  A  classmate  f  at  that 
time  says  of  him,  "he  was  the  only  boy  I  ever  knew  who 


'Kov  R   H.  ^lorrison.     t  Judge  Brevard. 


(7) 

would  spend  his  Saturdays  in  reviewing  the  studies  of  the 
week/' 

An  incident  wliich  occurred  about  this  time  aftbrds  a 
striking  proof  of  liis  early  force  of  character.  Gen.  Graham 
was  a  pioneer  in  a  branch  of  industry,  yet  but  little  devel- 
oped in  this  State — the  manufacture  of  iron.  Upon  his 
removal  to  Lincoln  he  established  a  furnace  and  forge,  which, 
at  the  time  now  spoken  of,  had  become  quite  extensive. 
From  some  cause  the  works  were  left  without  a  superinten- 
dent. The  General  installed  his  son  William,  though  then 
but  a  boy,  and  wholly  without  experience,  at  the  head  of 
the  establishment ;  and  the  energy  and  judgment  with 
which  he  conducted  it,  obtained  his  father's  entire  approval. 

He  was  next  sent  to  the  Academy  at  Hillsboro.  This  in- 
stitution, subsequently  under  Mr.  Bingham,  acquired  a  re- 
nown in  the  South  and  -Southwest,  not  inferior  to  the  re- 
nown of  Rugby,  in  Englau;!,  under  Dr.  Arnold.  It  was 
then  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Rodgers.  He  had  been  edu- 
cated for  the  Catholic  Priesthood,  and  for  accurate  scholar- 
ship and  capacity  as  a  teacher,  had  few  superiors.  Here  Mr. 
Graham  \yas  prepared  for  College. 

From  this  Academy  he  went  to  the  University  of  the 
State,  where  he  was  matriculated  in  the  summer  of  182).  .  ^, 
His  course  throughout  his  college  life  was  admirable  in  ev-Uji-W*^ 
ery  Avay.  He  appreciated  the  scheme  of  study  there  estab- 
lished, not  only  as  the  best  discipline  of  the  intellect,  but  as 
the  best  foundation  for  knowledge  in  its  widest  sense.  He 
mastered  his  lessons  so  perfectly,  that  each  lesson  became  a 
permanent  addition  to  his  stock  of  knowledge.  The  pro- 
fessors rarely  failed  to  testify  by  a  smile,  or  some  other  to- 
ken, their  approval  of  his  proficiency.  On  one  occasion,  a 
])rofessor,:j;  who  has  achieved  a  world-wide  reputation  in  the 
lield  of  science,  remarked  to  one  of  his  classmates§  that  his 


IProfossor  Olmsteilfl;  ^Joti:)  W.  Xorwood,  Esq. 


(8) 

lecture  on  Chemistry  came  back  as  perfectly  from  Mr.  Gra- 
ham as  he  had  uttered  it  on  the  previous  day. 

Some  thirty  years  after,  the  same  professor  in  a  letter  to 
Mr.  Graham,  (then  Secretary  of  the  Navy,)  uses  this  lan- 
guage :  "  It  has  often  been  a  source  of  pleasing  reflection  to 
me,  that  I  was  permitted  to  bear  some  part  in  fitting  you,  in 
early  life,  for  that  elevated  post  of  honor  and  usefulness  to 
which  Providence  has  conducted  you." 

His  high  sense  of  duty  was  manifested  in  his  conscientious 
deportment  under  the  peculiar  form  of  government  to  which 
be  was  then  subject.  His  observance  of  every  law  and 
usage  of  the  College  was  punctilious  ;  while,  to  the  faculty, 
lie  was  ever  scrupulously  and  conspicuously  respectful. 

His  extraordinary  proficiency  was  purchased  by  no  labo- 
rious drudgery.  The  secret  of  it  was  to  be  found  in  the  pre- 
cept which  he  acted  upon,  through  life :  "  Whatsoever  thy 
Lund  findeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might. "'  His  powers  of 
concentration  were  great,  his  perceptions  quick,  his  memory 
powerful,  prompt  and  assiduously  improved.  By  the  joint 
force  of  such  faculties,  he  could  accomplish  much  in  little 
time.  Hence,  notwithstanding  his  exemplary  attention  to 
his  College  studies,  he  devoted  much  time  to  general  read- 
ing. It  was  at  this  time,  no  doubt,  that  he  laid  up  much  of 
that  large  and  varied  stock  of  information  upon  which  he 
drew  at  pleasure,  in  after  life. 

Intent  upon  availing  himself  to  the  full,  of  every  advant- 
age atibrded  him,  he  applied  himself  assiduously  to  the  du- 
ties of  the  Literary  Society  of  ^^■hich  he  was  a  member.  He 
participated  regularly  in  the  debates  and  other  exercises  of 
that  body.  For  all  such  he  prepared  himself  with  care  ;  and 
it  is  asserted  by  the  same  authority,!  to  which  I  have  al- 
ready referred — a  most  competent  judge — that  his  composi- 
tions Avcre  of  such  excellence  that,  in  a  literary  point  of 


JiMr.  Norwood. 


^ 


(9) 

view,  tliey  would  have  challeuged  comparison  with  anything 
done  by  him  in  afterlife,  ' 

His  eno-ao-ins;  manners  brouojht  him  into  pleasant  relations  ^"(f^^ 
with  all  his  fellow  students.     lie  lived  with  them  upon  terms    ^      J^ 
of  the  frankest  and  most   familiar   intercourse.     In   their  0^\^' 
most    athletic  sports  he  never  participated,  but  he  was  a 
pleased  spectator,  and  evinced  by  his  manner  a  hearty  sym- 
pathy  with   their   enjoyments.     His  favorite  exercise  was 
walking,  and  those  who  knew  him  well  will  recollect  that 
this  continued  to  be  his  favorite  recreation  while  health  was 
spared  him.     With  his  friends  and  chosen  companions  he 
was  cordial  and  easy,  and  always  the  life  of  the  circle  when 
met  together. 

The  class  of  which  he  was  a  member  was  graduated  in 
1824.  It  was  the  largest  up  to  that  time  ;  and,  for  capacity 
iind  proficiency,  esteemed  the  best.  It  was  declared  by 
Professors  Olmstead  and  Mitchell,  that  Yale  might  well  have 
been  proud  of  such  a  class.  It  embraced  many  who  after- 
ward won  high  distinction  in  political  and  professional  life. 
One,  who  divided  the  highest  honors  of  the  class  with  Mr. 
Graham,  attained  the  highest  judicial  station  in  the  State — 
a  seat  upon  the  Supreme  Court  bench. f 

jSTo  one  could  have  availed  himself  to  a  greater  extent 
than  Mr.  Graham  did,  of  the  opportunities  presented  in  lii.s 
collegiate  career  "  His  college  life,  in  all  its  duties  and  ob- 
ligations," says  the  gentleman  before  quoted,  f  "  was  an 
epitome  of  his  career  upon  the  stage  of  the  world."  He 
adds  that  on  the  day  when  he  received  his  diploma,  he  could,  ( 
with  his  usual  habits  of  study,  have  filled  any  chair  with 
honor  to  himself  and  acceptance  to  his  class.  Such  is  the 
emphatic  testimony  of  one  who  himself  graduated  with  high 
distinction  in  the  same  class.  Might  we  not  subjoin,  build- 
ing upon  the  above  remark,  that  his  career  in  after  life  was, 


f^'' 


Hon.  M.  E.  Manly.    +  Mi'-  Ntrwood. 


(10) 

ill  great  part,  the  logical  result  of  the  diseipline  au;l  train- 
ing to  which  he  submitted  himself,  so  couscieutiously,  in  his 
college  life  ? 

After  graduation  he  made  an  excursion  to  some  of  the 
Western  States,  which  occupied  a  few  months.  While  at 
Lexington,  he  heard  Mr.  Crittenden  address  the  jury  in  a 
great  slander  or  libel  case.  Of  all  intellectual  displays  there 
are  none  so  dazzling  as  those  of  the  great  orator  or  advocate  ; 
there  are  none  the  triumphs  of  which  are  so  palpable  and 
so  intoxicating ;  none  so  calculated  to  excite  the  enthusiasm 
of  a  young  and  ingenuous  mind.  The  speech,  which  was 
worthy  of  the  great  advocate's  fame,  made  a  profound  im- 
pression upon  Mr.  Granam.  It  may  have  had  some  intluence 
in  determining  his  choice  of  a  profession,  or  in  fixing  it,  if 
already  made.  We  shall  see  in  the  sequel  that  to  the  youth 
wlio,.  unknown  to  him,  listened  with  such  admiration  to  his 
speech  that  day,  Mr.  Crittenden  many  years  after  appealed 
for  the  use  of  his  name,  and  the  weight  of  his  influence,  at  a 
crisis  of  great  peril  to  their  common  country.  From  this 
tour  he  returned  in  1824,  and  entered  upon  the  study  of  the 
law  in  the  office  of  Judge  lluffin. 

The  opinion  of  Judge  Ruflin,  as  to  the  course  proper  to  be 
pursued  with  a  student  of  the  law,  was  somewhat  peculiar. 
He  held  that  he  should  have  little  assistance  beyond  that  of 
having  his  course  of  study  prescribed.  He  must,  as  it  were, 
scale  the  heiglit  alone — by  his  own  strength  and  courage  ; 
availing  himself  of  a  guide  only  at  points  otherwise  inacces- 
sible. His  brother,  the  Hon.  .Fames  Graham,  in  a  letter 
written  at  this  period,  made  mention  of  this  opinion,  and 
urged  him  to  adopt  the  expedient  resorted  to  by  himself: 
"  When  he  would  not  examine  me,  I  took,"  said  he,  "  the 
liberty  of  questioning  him  very  frequently,  and  by  drawing 
him  into  conversation  on  legal  subjects,  my  own  ideas  were 
rendered  more  clear,  correct  and  lasting."  It  is  not  likely 
that  counsel  so  judicious,  and  from  such  a  source,  was  neg- 
lected. 


(U) 

lie  obtained  his  County  Court  license  in  the  summer  of  n    ^' 
182G.     At  August  term  of  the  Court  he  appeared  at  the  ^ 
Orange  Bar.    The  rule  then  required,  between  the  admission 
to  practice  in  the  County  Court    and  the  admission  to  prac- 
tice in  the  Superior  Court  a  novitiate  of  one  year.     This 
period  he  spent  in  Ilillsboro,  that  he,  might  continue   to 
profit  by  the  instruction  of  his  learned  preceptor.     At  the 
end  of  the  year  he  received  his  Superior  Court' license.     It 
was  now  a  question  where  he  should  establish  himself  for  the 
practice  of  his  profession.     The  counties  of  Mecklenburg,, 
Cabarrus  and  Lincoln  were  tilled  with  his  blood  relations, 
connections  and  friends.     They  were  among  the  most  distin- 
guished for  their  wealth,    intelligence   and   Revolutionary 
fame.     Their  combined  influence  would  give  him  command 
of  all  the  important  business  of  those  counties,  and  place  him 
at  the  outset  in  the  position  of  a  leader  of  the  Bar.     The 
prospect  in  Orange  and  the  adjoining  counties  was  widely 
diiferent.     In  these  latter  counties  he  would  have  no  adven-  fuJr' 
titious  advantages.     The  business  of  these  counties,  more-^   ^^ 
over,  Avas.  engrossed  by  an  able  and  a  numerous  Bar.     At        I 
the  first  court  which  he  attended  after  he  obtained  his  Su- 
perior Court  license  they  mustered  to  the  number  of  twenty- 
six,  A  large  proportionof  these  were  young  man  recently  ad- 
mitted to  practice;  but  after  deducting  these,  and   many 
more  of  longer  standing  and  respectable  position,  there  still     / 
remained  a  Bar  which  for  learning,  abilities  and  eloquence 
was  never  surpassed  in  this  State.     Of  resident  lawyers  there 
were  Thomas  Ruffin,  Archibald  D.  Murphy,  AVillie  P.  Man- 
gum,  Francis  L.  Hawkes  and  Frederick  Nash ;  of  lawyers- 
attending  the  court,  from  other  counties,  there  were  George 
E.   Budo-er,   AVilliam   II.   Haywood    and   Bartlett  Yancey. 
What  recollections  of  renown  connected  w  ith  the  forum,  the 
Seuate  and  the  church  Hood  the  mind  as  we  recall  these 
names !     Fain  would  I  pause  to  contemplate  the  career  of 
these  illustrious  men,  by  which  the  character  of  North  Caro- 
lina was  so  nmch  elevated  in  the  consideration  of  the  world,. 


(12) 

rand  so  mucli  of  honor  brought  to  the  State.     But  other  sub- 
jects press  upon  me — subjects  of  more  immediate  interest. 

^Notwithstanding  this  formidable  competition — a  compe- 
tition which  might  well  dismay  one  at  the  outset  of  profes- 
tfiional  life — Mr.  Graham  resolved  to  fix  his  residence  at  Hills- 
boro.  Two  reasons  were  assigned  by  him  for  this  conclu- 
.-sion :  first,  an  unwillingness  to  relinquish  the  foot-hold  he 
had  gained  in  the  county  courts  of  Orange,  Granville  and 
■Guilford  ;  second,  a  reluctance  to  sever  the  associations 
^formed  with  his  professional  brethren  at  those  courts.  An- 
other reason,  quite  as  potent,  probably,  ^^as  a  well-grounded 
-"Confidence  in  his  own  abilities,  and  in  his  knowledge  of  his 
jprofession.  Against  such  men  he  entered  the  lists,  and 
•sigainst  such  he  had  to  contend  ;  not  indeed  all  at  the  same 
time,  but  all  within  a  period  of  two  years.  It  may  be  men- 
tioned as  an  instance  of  the  vicissitudes  of  human  life,  that 
■five  years  from  the  August  of  that  year — 1827 — not  one  of 
those  illustrious  men  remained  at  that  Bar. 

Ilis  first  case  of  importance  in  the  Superior  Court  was  one 
^vhich,  from  peculiar  causes,  excited  great  local  interest.  It 
involved  an  intricate  question  of  title  to  land.  On  the  day 
'Of  trial,  the  court  room  was  crowded  and  the  Bar  fully 
occupied  by  lawyers — many  of  them  men  of  the  highest  pro- 
fessional eminence.  When  he  came  to  address  the  jury,  he 
«poke  with  modesty,  but  with  ease  and  self-possession.  His 
preparation  of  the  ease  had  been  thorough,  and  the  argu- 
.Tuent  which  he  delivered  is  described  as  admirable,  both  as 
-to  matter  and  manner.  AVlien  he  closed,  the  lion.  William 
H.  Haywood,  who  had  then  risen  to  a  high  position  at  the 
Bar,  turned  to  a  distinguished  gentleman,  still  living,  of  the 
-same  profession,  and  inquired  who  had  prepared  the  argu- 
:incnt  which  Mr.  Graham  had  so  handsomelj'  delivered.  The 
answer  was,  "  It  is  all  his  own ;"  to  which  Mr.  Haywood 
.replied  with  the  observation,  "William  Gaston  could  have 
i^one  it  no  better." 

Mr.  Graham  knew  'nor.e  of  that  weary  probation  which 


(13) 

has  been  the  lot  of  so  many  able  men.     His  argument  in  the'; 
case  just  mentioned  at  once  gave  him  a  position  of  promi- 
nence.    It  was  not  long  before  he  attained  a  place  in  the- 
front  rank  of  his  profession.     Here,  with  the  large  stores  of 
professional  knowledge  which  he  had  laid  up,  it  was  easy  to 
sustain   himself     His  high  mental  qualifications,  his  habits, 
of  study,  his  perseverance,  his  unalterable  faith  in  his  cause,, 
brought  to  him  a  constantly  increasing  business,  and  a  con- 
stantly widening  reputation.     He  was  early,  for  so  young  a 
man,  retained  in  the  most  important  causes  in  the  courts  in 
which  he  practiced,  and  his  associate  counsel  geneially  gave 
him  the  leading  position  in  the  trial. 

For  forty  years  and  more  he  maintained  his  high  pre- 
eminence in  his  profession.  His  name  appears  in  the  Reports,. 
in  nearly  all  the  apjDeals  from  his  own  circuit,  and  in  many 
of  the  important  cases  from  the  other  circuits  of  the  State.. 
It  would  be  impossible,  in  the  compass  of  this  Address,  to- 
present  ?ny  view,  however  brief,  of  the  nature. and  variety 
of  .the  causes  in  which  he  was  employed.  They  will  be- 
found  to  embrace  nearly  every  principle  known  to  the  com- 
mon law  and  to  ecpiity  jurisprudence,  applicable  under  our 
system  of  government  and  to  our  changed  condition  of" 
society.  To  his  clear,  penetrating,  masculine  intellect,  both 
systems  were  alike  adapted ;  but  the  system  of  Equity 
seemed  to  me,  to  offer  to  him  the  most  congenial  field. 
Thoroughly  versed  in  the  learning  of  this  branch  of  juris- 
prudence, his  fine,  natural  sense  of  right  had  led  him  to  the 
study  of  the  best  ethical  writers.  He  had  thus  rendered  still 
more  subtle  his  native  perception  of  those  more  recondite- 
princij^les  of  justice  which  it  is  the  object  of  that  science  to 
administer.  And  though  the  system  of  equity  has  for  a 
long  time  been  little  less  circumscribed  by  known  rules  and. 
precedents  than  the  s^^stem  of  law,  yet  his  mind  found  aa, 
grateful  occupation  in  tracing  those  rules  and  precedents^ 
back  to  the  great  principles  from  which  they  were  deduced., 
and  vindicating  their  authority  upon  the  ground  of  reason.^ 


(14) 

Not,  however,  in  courts  of  Et|nity  did  he  establish  his 
great  reputation  in  liis  profession.  The  fame  acquired  in 
this  hrancli  of  practice  is  limited  almost  entirely  to  the 
Bench  and  Bar.  It  admits  of  none  of  those  intellectual  dis- 
plays for  which  the  trial  by  jury  is  so  Avell  adapted.  It  is 
to  the  Law  side  of  the  court  that  we  must  repair,  if  we 
Avould  see  him  in  that  sphere,  in  which,  professionally,  he 
was  best  known,  and  where  his  most  signal  triumphs  were 
won.  But  of  his  distinguishing  characteristics  as  a  lawyer, 
I  projiose,  hereafter,  to  speak. 

J^  In  1833  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  General  Assen-i- 

Uua    bly  from  the  town  of  Ilillsboro.     His  first  appearance  on  the 

^^^  floor  has  an  interest  from  the  relations  subscquentl}'  existing 

between  him  and  the  distinguished  man  to  Avliom  the  mo- 
tion suljmittcd  liy  him  had  rol'ercn(,'e.  He  rose  to  move  the 
sending  of  a  message  to  the  Senate  to])roceed  to  the  election 
of  a  Governor  of  the  State,  and  to  put  in  nomination  Gov. 
Swain.  A  tlay  ov  \\\o  after,  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  re- 
porting that  that  gentleman — who  was  ever  afterward  united 
to  him  in  the  closest  bonds  of  friendshi} — had  received  a 
majority  of  votes,  and  of  being  named  as  first  on  the  com- 
mittee to  inform  him  of  his  election.  He  took,  from  tlie  be- 
ginning, an  active  part  in  the  business  of  the  House  relating 
to  Banks,  Law  Amendments  and  Education.  A  lew  days 
after  the  session  connnenced,  he  Avas  apyiointed  chairman  of 
a,  special  committee,  and  submitted  an  adverse  report  upon 
the  petition  of  certain  citizens  of  Franco,  praying  that  they 
m.ight  hold  and  transfer  real  estate.  Xear  the  end  c^f  the 
session  he  was  the  chairman  of  another  special  commit- 
tee, to  which  was  referred  a  rpiestion  then  much  discussed. 
The  question  was,  whether  a  person  holding  an  ofhce  of 
profit  or  trust  under  tlie  State  government  could,  during  his 
term,  hold  a  like  office  under  the  goverjunent  of  the  United 
States.  The  question  arose  under  the  Constitution  of  177(), 
and  is  of  no  practical  value  now.  But  it  was  a  question  of  in- 
terest at  the  time,  and   possesses  an    interest   for  us,  as  the 


(15) 

liivst  work  oi'any  kind  (L>;io  l)y  Mr.  Graliaiu  wliii-li  lipscome 
down  to  us.  llo  disposed  of  the  question  iu  a  report  eiear 
and  well  reasoned,  and  marked  with  great  precision  of  lan- 
g  11  age. 

He  was  a  member  from  the  tame  town  in  1834,  during 
wh.ch  session  he  appears  to  have  discharged  the  duties  of 
the  chairman  of  the  committee  of  which  he  was  a  member, 
the  Committee  on  the -Tudiciar}'.  A     ^^^ 

I  record  an  incident  which  attests    the  high  consideration'^'^' 
which  he  had  already  acquired  in   the  country,  and  the  im-    ■"  ^^^ 
portance  attached  to  his  opinion.     Judge    Gaston  had  been  ^    \. 
electe<l  in  lc33  to  a  seat  on  the  Supremo  Court  Bench  by  a  ^kA^ 
majority  of  two-thirds  of  the  General  Assembly.     He  had  ^' 

been  brought  up  in  the  Konian  Catholic  faith — the  faith  of  t/V*-  ^ 
liis  fathers — the  faith  in  which  he  died.  The  thirty-second  f\X^^ 
section  of  the  old  constitution  declared  incapable  of  holding 
office  all  those  who  "deny  the  truth  of  the  Protestant  relig- 
ion." Some  dissatisfaction  had  been  expressed  at  his  accep- 
ting a  judicial  office  under  a  constitution  containing  this 
clause,  which  in  the  opinion  of  some,  excluded  him.  For 
some  time  he  did  not  deem  it  necessar}"  to  advert  to  tlie 
matter.  In  1834 — Xtn'.  12 — he  addressed  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Graham,  enclosing  a  written  paper,  in  which  he  stated  suc- 
cinctly, but  with  great  clearness  and  irresistible  force,  the 
reasoning  by  A\liich  his  acceptance  had  been  determined.  In 
the  conclusion  of  his  letter  he  referred  it  to  Mr.  Graham's 
judgment,  to  determine  what  degree  of  publicity  should  be 
given  to  the  pa[ier.  Whether  it  was  ever  published  ^ve  do 
not  know  ;  but  when  we  consider  Judge  Gaston's  high  sta- 
tion and  great  name  in  the  country,  and  that  the  purit}'  of 
that  name  was  in  a  measure  at  stake,  the  incident  must  be 
regarded  as  a  singular  tribute  to  the  character  v/hicli  Mr. 
Graham  had  thus  early  established.  It  is  well  known  how 
Judge  Gaston  availed  himself  of  his  place  in  the  convention 
of  1S35  to  set  I'orth  to  tlie  world  the  reasons  by  which  his 
decision  had  been  influenced — reasons  so  coo-ent  and  conclu- 


(16) 

give  as  to  satisfy  every  mind.  It  is  known,  too,  that  the  ob- 
ject of  the  great  speech  delivered  by  him  then — an  object 
happily  accomplished — was  to  bring  about  such  a  moditica- 
tion  of  the  obnoxious  clause  as  to  deprive  it  of  all  sectarian 
intolerance 

Mr.  Graham  was  again  a  member  from  Ilillsboro  in  the 
year  1835.  In  the  organization  of  the  committees  the  post 
of  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary"  was  assign- 
ed to  him,  and  the  journals  bear  testimony  to  the  diligence 
with  which  its  duties  were  discharged.  It  was  through  him, 
in  his  capacity  of  chairman,  that  the  various  reports  of  the 
commissioners  to  revise  the  Statute  Laws  of  the  State — the 
Revised  Code  being  then  in  progress — were  submitted  to 
the  House. 

From  the  abilities  displayed  and  the  high  position  held  by 
him  in  the  Legislature,  we  should  naturall}'  expect  to  find 
him  in  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1835.  It  has  been 
well  said  that  the  county  of  Orange  has  been  to  North  Caro- 
lina, what  Virginia  has  been  to  the  Union,  the  mother  of 
statesmen  f  On  this  occasion,  by  one  of  those  caprices 
which  sometimes  seize  upon  communities  as  well  as  individ- 
uals, the  noble  old  county  seemed  to  care  little  for  her  an- 
cient renown.  There  seems  to  have  been  no  action  by  the 
county  to  secure  delegates  worthy  of  her  former  reputation. 
We  learn  from  the  remarks  of  one  of  the  delegates:}:  in  the 
Convention,  that  there  were  ten  candidates  in  the  field,  and 
that  the  successful  candidates  were  returned  hy  so  small  a 
vote  as  to  call  forth  a  taunt  from  a  member  of  the  Conven- 
tion. In  such  a  contest  Mr.  Graham  liad  no  desire  to  enter 
the  field  ;  indeed,  whenever  he  offered  himself  for  the  suf- 
frages of  his  countrjaiicn,  it  was  as  the  chosen  champion  of 
the  principles  of  a  great  party. 
^  He  again  represented  the  county  of  Orange  in  the  Legis- 
latures of  1838  and  1840,  in   both  of  which  he  was  elected 


tMaj.  Gales"  sketch   of  Gov.  Graham,  in  "Illustrated  Age."'    {Dr.  Smith,  "De- 
bates," p.  3)7. 


(IT) 

ppeakei'.  This  withdri'  \'  liiui  iV.)in  tin- uiviia  of  dehuto,  and 
we  learn  little  more  of  him  from  the  journals  of  those  j^es- 
Lslons  than  the  unifui'm  punctuality  and  universal  acceptabili- 
ty with  which  he  disehai-ged  the   duties  of  that  high  trust. 

We  take  leave  fur  the  present  of  ?i[r.  (iitdiam's  legislative 
career.  His  talents  wci'c  soon  to  he  exerted  on  national  suh- 
Jects,  and.  on  a  grander  stage.  It  neo(Lsl)ut  a  cursoi-y  glance 
<over  the  journals  during  the  time  he  was  a  mendxT  to  ol)- 
«erve  the  extent  of  his  labors.  The  bills  introduced,  and  the 
reports  submitted  by  him  embrace  every  great  interest  of 
the  State.  They  embrace  the  subjects  of  l)anks,  hnance,  ed- 
ucation, internal  improvement,  and  measures  relatino-  to 
amendment  and  repeal  of  statutes.  Here  will  be  seen  the 
causes  of  his  pre-eminence  among,  the  statesmen  of  JSorth 
Carolina.  Tliat  pre-eminence  was  the  fruit  of  a  careful 
study  of  the  State  in  all  lier  resources  and  in  all  her  inter- 
•ests 

A  revolution  in  the  politics  of  the  State  brought  about  a    - 
vacancy,  in  1S40,  in  the  representation  from  Xorth  Carolina 
in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.     Mr.    Strange,  nnder  in-- 
.^tructions,  had  resigned  his  seat  ;  the  term  of  the  other  Sen- 
.ator  was  near  its  end.     There  were  thus  two  terms  to  be  fill- 
ed b\'  the  Legislature  of  184].^  Mr.    Mangum  Avas  elected 
toi-  the  full  term,  Mr.  Graham  for  the  unexpired  term.     This 
■election  was  considered  by  Mr.  Graham  as  the  most  eniphat- 
ic  testimonial  of  the  confidence  and  favor  of  the  State  which  x- 
he  received  during  his  life.     Mr.  ^Nfanguni  and  he  were  resi-      ^ 
dents  of  the  same  county,  and  of  the  many   aide  men  who 
might  justly  advance  chiims  to  the  other  seat  Mr.  Graham 
was  the  youngest.     Certainly  an  election  under  such  circum- 
stances constituted  a  tribute  of    peculiar  significance  and 
value. 

lie  was  among  tlie  youngest  members  of  the  Senate  when 
lie  took  his  seat ;  but  he  soon  commanded  the  esteem  and 
respect  of  the  entij-e  body.  That,  it  has  been  truly  said,  was 
pre-eminently  the  age  of  great  men  in  American  parliamea- 


(18) 

tary  liistory,  and  of  such  he  was  regarded  as  the  worthy 
compeer.  "Ke  never  rose  to  speak,*'  says  a  distinguished, 
gentleman,*  who  was  himself  a  member  of  Congress  at  that. 
time,  ''  that  he  did  not  receive  the  most  respectful  attention.. 
When  the  Senate  went  into  Committee  of  the  Whole  he  was: 
usually  called  upon  to  preside.  Reports  from  him  as  chair- 
man of  a  committee  almost  invariably  secured  tlie  favorable 
consideration  of  the  Senate."  From  the  same  authority  we- 
learn  that  the  relations  existing  between  him  and  Mr.  Clay 
•were  of  the  most  kindl}'  and  intimate  character,  and  that 
Mr.  Clay  "  regarded  him  as  a  most  superior  man,  socially  and. 
intellectually." 

Tlie  [leriod  during  which  Mr.  Graham  was  in  the  Senate 
was  one  of  the  most  stormy  in  our  political  annals.  The 
Whig  party  had  just  achieved  a  great  victory,  and  Harrison 
and  Tyler  had  l)een  elected  by  an  immeiue  majority.  That 
party  reckoned  confidently,  that  it  would  now  l»(j  able  to  carry 
out  those  great  principles  of  government,  for  whi<di  it  had 
so  long  contended,  and  which  had  been  so  signally  ap[)rove<l 
in  the  recent  election.  In  the  midst  of  these  ])atriotic  anti- 
cipations, General  Harrison  died,  and  islr.  Tyler  succeeded 
to  the  Presidential  chair.  Mr.  Tyler  had  adopted  the  i)lat- 
form  of  the  Whig  party,  and  in  his  address,  upon  assuming 
the  duties  of  his  high  ofhce,  he  did  not  intimate  the  least 
change  of  policy  from  that  which  his  predeces.scr  had  an- 
nounced in  his  inaugural,  lie  had,  moreover,  retained  the- 
same  constitutional  advisers.  The  statesmen  of  the  Whig; 
party  now  set  to  work  to  redeem  the  pledges  which  had. 
been  made  to  the  country.  A  great  financial  measure  was. 
passed  ;  this  was  vetoed  by  the  President.  A  second  meas- 
ure of  the  same  kind,  framed  in  conformity  to  the  views  in- 
dicated in  liis  veto  message,  was  passed,  which  was  vetoed  in* 
like  manner.  A  taritf  bill  was  passed,  but  this  shared  the^ 
same  fate.     Efforts  were  made  to  pass  these  bills  over  the-. 


*IIon.  Keniu'tli  Rayner. 


(19) 

President's  veto,  but  in  every  instance  the  veto  was  sustained 
by  tlic  opposite  party.  The  result  of  tliese  repeated  disap- 
pointn)ents  was,  that  all  hoi)e  oi' united  and  efficient  action 
in  carrying  out  the  g-roat  priiH'iples  of  tlie  AVliig  party  was 
finally  abandoned. 

The  udniinistration  of  Mi'.  A'an  Bureii  had  largely exeeedeA 
the  revenues.  Pnn'ision  tor  itiis  deficiency  had  to  be  made- 
by  the  incoming  adniinistratidii.  To  meet  an  emergency  so- 
pressing,  a  bill  was  introduced,  known  as  the  "  Loan  Bill." 
It  was  strongly  o^iposed,  among  others,  by  Mr.  Calhoun,  in  a. 
speech  of  characteristic  force  and  compass.  ^So  far  as  tho 
Whigs  were  concerned  it  was  an  ajipeal  by  the  administra- 
tion for  aid,  to  a  part}^  which  it  had  betrayed.  Mr.  Graham 
only  recollected  that  the  good  of  the  country  was  involved.^ 
and  gave  it  his  support.  "I  will  not,"  said  he,  "step  the 
action  of  the  government  l)y  denying  it  the  means  of  going- 
on,  no  matter  who  may  be  in  power."  The  speech  which  he 
delivered  on  this  bill  was  eminently  able  and  statesmanlike. 
Me  demonstrated  the  necessity  of  the  measure;  he  traced 
out  the  cause  of  the  deficiencj^  and  pointed  out  the  remedy. 
The  subject  has  little  interest  to  the  general  reader  at  this 
day,  yet  in  that  speech  there  ai'e  passages  of  such  profound 
reflection  and  philosophic  scojie  as  will  give  it  a  value  to 
the  political  student  at  all  times.  Cf  the  three  pro}»ositionf5 
which  he  laid  down  as  applicable  to  the  emergency  then  ex- 
isting, the  two  latter  comprehend  the  highest  wisdom  in  our 
own  day:  "Reduce  the  expenditures  to  the  lowest  point 
consistent  witli  an  efficient  public  service  ;"  "Levy  such  du- 
ties as  are  necessary  for  an  economical  administration  of  the 
government,  and  nt.>  more." 

When  the  Ap[)ortionment  Bill  in  1842  was  under  consid-l^,i..^ 
eration,  very  strong  opposition,  headed  b}^  Mr.  Bucharian,  of    r.|     .1 
Pennsylvania,  and  Mr.  Wright,  of  New  York,  v/as  made  to    V^-^ 
the  Districting  clause.     Mr.  Graham,  on  June  the  od,  ad- 
dressed the  Senate  in  support  of  tlie  clause.     In  a  calm,  con- 
densed, weighty  and  conclusive  argument,  he  demonstrated 


(20) 

that  the  District  system  of  eieciiiii:  Re[>resentativcs  to  Coii- 
^re-!S,  was  m  cauformity  t.)  the  true  theory  ofHepresentative 
<^oveniment,  and  was  the  one  contemplated  and  expected  l>y 
the  tVamers  of  the  o:overnment ;  that  it  >vas  sanctioned  l)y 
ii-asi'e  ahn  ist  unaulmons  in  the  old  Srate-^.  and  by  the  usage 
of  two-thirds  wf  the  new  ;  th.it  the  general  ticket  system  was 
iVanght  v/ith  evils,  })nblic  and  private;  nay.  ^\■ith  dangers  to 
the  Union.  There  was  a  [»assage  in  that  debate  Avhich  so 
forcibly  illustrates  the  high  moral  [ilane  upon  which  he  dis- 
cusscl  [>uMic  atf.iirs,  that  I  cannot  })ass  it  l)y.  It  was  ob- 
jected by  Mr.  Woodbury,  of  Xew  Hani'pshire.  that  if  the  Act 
"were  passe  1  by '(  ongress,  it  had  no  means  of  enforcing  it. 
3Ie  A\'ished  to  know  whether  an  armed  foive  or  a  wv\t  of 
laandamus  vrould  be  sent  to  the  State  hegislaturcs  to  compel 
them  to  lay  oif  the  Districls.  In  rei-lx-  Mr.  Graham  chowed 
that  if,  notwithstanding  the  lav/,  a  State  should  return 
xneml)ers  according  to  general  ticket,  the  House  of  Kcjire- 
sentatives.  as  jiulge  of  the  eieu'tion  of  its  membei's,  couhl 
j)ronounce  such  election  a  nullity.  ••  ijut  the  duties  of  the 
States  under  our  Constitution,"  said  he.  "are  not  to  be  de- 
termined l)y  tlieir  liiibility  to  punishment,  luit  by  the  coven- 
suits  into  which  they  entered  by  that  instrument.  It  is 
faith,  honor,  conscience,  and  not  tli.-  -hang-man's  \vhi[i,'  on 
■?kvhich,  at  last  rest  the  blessings  of  tliis  noblest  hunutn  insti- 
tution which  has  ever  i^een  (h^vised  for  the  security,  ihe 
Tivelfare  audhap'piurss  of  man.'"  In  this  exclamation,  he  un- 
consciously announced  those  great  prinei[>les  by  which  his 
<nvn  conduct  thr>)Ugh  life  was  regulated,  and  to  v.hose 
slio'htest  behest  he  ever  ^-ielded  an  urdiesitating  obedience. 

A  sh;)rt  time  after— July  25,  1S42— he  received  the  fol- 
lowing letter  fr^nu  Chancellor  Kent :  ''  I  thank  you  for  your 
speech  ou  the  Districting  clau.se  of  the  Apportionment  Bill. 
I  have  read  it  carefully,  and  I  deem  it  in  every  respect  logi- 
cal, conclusive,  and  a  vindicati(.)]i  of  the  |  ov>er  assumed  by 
the  Bill,  in  language  clear  and  specidc,  tempered  v.ith   due 


(21) 

moderation  aiul  tinniiess.     The  Distiict  Svsteni  is  cs.st'utial 
to  clieck  and  contrd  the  eiinning  niacliineiy  of  Faction." 

After  tlie  expiration  of  his  term— Mareh  3,  1843— Mr. 
Graham  resumed  ine  practice  of  his  profession.  ■  ;') 

In  1844  he  was  nominafed  by  the  Whig  party  of  Xorth  ^-^J^ 
Carolina  for  the  office  of  Governor.     lie  had  not  soiio-ht  the 
nomination ;  nay,  would  have  declined  it  if  he  could  have^ 
done  so  consistently  with  his  high  conceptions  of  the  duty 
of  a  citizen.     In  1S3(;  he  had  married  the  daughter  of  the 
late  John  AV^ashington,  Es(p,  of  Kewbern,  a   lady  of  rare 
beauty  and  accomplishments— a  union  which  brought  to  him 
as  much  of  happiness  as  it  is  the  lot  of  man  to  know.     From 
this  union  a  young  and  growing  family  was  gatherino-  around 
him.     His  patrimony  had  not  been  large,  and  the  reciuire- 
ments  of  his  family  demanded  his  constant  professional  exer- 
tions.    He  was  now  at  the  summit  of  his  profession,  and  his 
emoluments  would   be  limited   only   by  the   nature  of  the 
business  in  an  agricultural  State,  where  comuierce  existed 
to  only   a   small   extent,  and    manufactures  were  in  their 
infancy.-     His  attention  had  been  much  withdrawn  from  hi* 
profession  during  his  Senatorial  career,  and  besides  the  ex- 
pense and  loss  of  time  in  a  State  canvass,  he  would,  if  elected, 
be  entirely  precluded  from  the    exercise  of  his  protessio.; 
during  his  term  of  office.     The  salary  of  the  office  was  small, 
and  a  residence  in  the  capital  as  Chief  Magistrate  would 
render  necessary  an  increased  scale  of  expense.     On  the  other 
hand,  were  considei-ations  of  great  Aveight.     Letters  came  to 
him  from  many  gentlemen  of  high  standing  in  various  parts 
of  the  State,  pressing  his  acceptance  l;»y  eveiy  consideration      " 
that  could  be  addressed  to  an  elevated  mind.     Moreover  he 
was  not  unmindful  of  the  honors  which  had  been  conferred 
upon  him,  and  not  ungrateful.     He  held,  too,  that  the  cir- 
cumstances must  be  very  exceptional,  which  could  justify  a 
citizen  in  withholding  his  services  when  called  to  a  public, 
station  by  the  general  voice  of  the  people.     To  determine 
his  duty  cost  him  much  anxious  retiection ;  but  the  latter 


(22) 

■consideration  proved  decisive.     The  derision  once  made,  he 
sicted  with  his  accustomed  energy. 

His  nomination  was  hailed  with  satisfaction  throughont 
the  Union.  Among  other  letters  which  he  then  received, 
giving  expression  to  this  feeling,  was  one  from  Mr.  Clay. 
In  conclusion  he  thus  expressed  himselt:  "  Still,  I  should 
have  preferred  that  you  were  in  another  situation,  where  the 
whole  Union  would  have  benefitted  by  3'our  services." 
.    V  His  opponent  was  Colonel  ]SIike  Hoke.     He  was  born  in 

'^  the  same  county  with  Mr.  Graham,  find  was  nearly  of  the 
same  age.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  tine  person,  of  tine  ad- 
dress, of  considerable  Legislative  experience,  and  of  high 
position  at  the  Bar.  The  e-anvass  was  well  contested  on  both 
sides;  on  the  part  of  .Mr.  Graham  it  was  conducted  with 
surpassing  ability.  When  it  came  to  the  vote  he  led  his 
competitor  by  several  thousand  majority.  ^ 
;  .rile  was  inaugurated  on  the  1st  of  January,  1845,  the  oaths 

*  .,v^  of  office  being  administered  by  Chief  Justice  RutHn.  The 
0  ilaleigh  Register  of  that  date  remarks,  that  "  the  audience 
which  witnessed  the  ceremony,  for  everything  that  could 
make  the  occasion  imposing,  has  never  been  surpassed  within 
our  recollection.  The  lobbies  au'l  galleries  were  crowded 
with  strano;ers  and  citizens,  and  a  brilliant  assemblasie  of 
ladies." 
Ji       The  Inaugural  Address  Avas  worthy  uf  the  speaker.     It  is 

v^  full  of  lofty  thoughts  and  wise  suggestions.  It  is  pervaded 
throughout  hy  that   philosophic    tone   which   belonged  to 

14,*-  whatever  he  wrote  or  spoke.  The  earlier  part  contains  poli- 
tical reflections  of  such  weight  and  value,  that  I  would 
gladly  present  them  if  they  could  l)e  condensed  into  a  less 
space.  In  this  address,  as  always,  he  held  up  the  State  as 
the  worthy  object  of  our  best  affections.  His  glance  at  the 
working  of  our  State  government  since  its  organization^  was 
calculated  to  exalt  to  the  highest  degree  the  popular  esti- 
mate of  the  Constitution.  Some  of  the  noblest  institutions 
of  our  State  had  practically  their  inception  in  the  recom- 


"^     /itCw/r..        5 


OOn      er      U.     O  a  A 


(23) 

inendations  of  that  Inaugural — as  the  Asylum  for  the  insane 
and  the  Asylum  for  the  deaf  and  dumb:^'  Here,  too,  prac- 
tically dates  the  origin  of  that  great  measure  of  scientific 
progress — the  Geological  Survey,  by  which  North  Carolina 
■stands  so  enviably  distinguished  among  her  sister  States 
immediately  around  her.  He  gives  just  prominence  in  this 
address  to  the  Common  School  System,  which  then  had  been 
just  introduced.  The  University,  which  alwa\'S  commanded 
the  entire  homage  of  his  heart,  has  its  due  place  here.  In 
the  latter  half  he  takes  a  survey  of  the  State — her  physical 
condition  and  her  needs — and  suggests  from  the  resources  of 
political  economy,  the  true  principles  of  her  future  progress' 
lie  dwells,  toward  the  conclusion,  with  just  exultation  upon 
the  high  character  which  our  people  enjoyed  for  hcnesty  and 
fidelity.  "  Thus  far,"  said  he,  "  our  escutcheon  is  unstained — 
the  public  faith  has  been  kept ;  the  public  honor  inviolate." 
History  will  record  that  it  was  always  so,  while  North  Caro- 
linians had  the  control  of  their  State.  The  last  sentence  is 
characteristic  of  the  man  ;  it  breathes  a  devout  invocation 
that  pijr  beloved  State  should  not  outstrip  her  sister  States 
in  the  career  of  ambition  and  of  glory,  but  "  that  she  may 
be  permitted  to  '  walk  in  her  integrity,'  the  object  of  our 
loyalty  and  pride,  as  she  is  the  home  of  our  hearts  and  affec- 
tions." I  have  dwelt  upon  this  address  because  it  epitomises 
the  measures,  and  exhibits  the  spirit  of  his  administration. 
It  would  be  impossible  to  present  here  any  view  of  the  pro- 
gress of  the  State  during  his  administration.  His  first  term 
was  so  acceptable  that  he  was  elected  for  the  second  by  a 
largely-increased  vote.  His  tw^o  terms  embrace  that  period 
during  which  North  Carolina  made  the  greatest  progress  in 
:all  her  interests.*     The  messages  of  his  very  al)]e  predecessor, 

* ''hi' A<-.t  loi- the  charter  of  the  Iiistittitiim  for  tlie  "Deaf.  Dninl)  and  Biind'  ' 
was  p!is.seil  in  ISlti.  In  lv4S  were  passed  Act.s  for  the  charters  of  the  North  faro- 
•liiia  Railroad,  the  Fa.v^'tteville  and  Western  Plank  Head,  the  Slacknatfr  Na-  i- 
f^ation  of  tlie  ('a]>e  Kea--  and  Deep  Rivers,  and,  pi-osiiectively,  of  the  Yadkin, 
with  a  portage  railroad  connected  with  Deep  River.  Tlie  Leiri.slatnre  also  made 
•  an  appropri:itioii  for  the  erection  of  a  Lunatic  Asylum.  The  Act  authoriziiia:  a 
Oeological  Survey  was  passed  in  l-i.50— the  year  after  the  e.xpii'ation  oi  his  term— 
ibut  ilie  Act  was  mainly  dne  to  the  influence  e.\erted  Ly  his  Inausiural  and  Mes- 
:9ag-es. 


( 24 ) 

Governor  Morehead,  followed  up  by  liis  own,  drew  the 
attention  of  the  whole  State  to  the  subject  of  Internal  Iin- 
provcnients,  and  a  powerful  impulse  was  given  to  that  great 
interest.  Space  vrould  fail  rne  for  a  separate  notice  of  each 
of  the  great  interests  of  the  Slate.  To  sum  up  in  brief, 
whatever  could  tend  to  her  material  or  intellectual  progress- 
Avas  duly  fostered  and  enci)uraged. 

iJjiJttA  llis  messages  were  regarded  as  among  the  best  State- 
'•'  papers  of  his  day.  Of  this  I  could  cite  many  proofs  ;  I  must 
content  myself  Avith  one.  In  a  letter,  Mr.  AVebster  Avrite* 
as  follows  :  ••  The  tone  which  your  Message  holds,  in  regard 
to  the  relations  between  the  State  Governnjent  and  the  Gen- 
eral Government  isjnst,  i)roper,  digniiied  and  constitutional, 
and  the  views  which  it  j)resents  on  questions  of  internal 
policv,  the  development  of  resources,  the  improvement  of 
markets,  and  the  gradual  advancement  of  industry  and 
Avealth,  are  such  as  belong  to  the  age,  and  are  important  to 
our  country  in  all  its  parts."  His  earnest  recommendation 
of  a  Geological  Survey  elicited  from  Prof  Olmstead,  a  letter 
commending  his  A'iews  expressed  in  that  regard,  in  which 
lie  said :  "  There  is  no  State  in  the  Union  Avhich  Avoukl 
better  rcAvard  the  labor  and  ex[)ense  of  a  Geological  Survey 
than  North  Carolina. " 
;,,        In    1849  li<^    delivered  the   Address  before  the  Literary 

'^'^  I  Societies  at  Chapel  Hill.  His  sul»ject  Avas  a  cursory  A'ieAv  of 
the  objects  of  liberal  education.  This  Address  stands  out 
in  Avide  contrast  to  those  Avhich  have  been  customary  on 
such  occasions,  and  is  solid,  sterling;,  practical.  It  is  a  A-in- 
dication  of  the  University  ^curriculum.  Subjects  of  highest 
interest  are  discussed,  and  with  all  due  attractions  of  style.. 
It  concludes  with  brief,  but  Aveighty  suggestions  to  the 
graduating  class,  calculated  to  stimulate  to  high  aims  in 
Airtue,  knowledge  and  patriotism. 

Public  honors  have  been  coy  to  mo>!t  men  ;  it  Avas  tho 
reverse  in  his  case.  They  Avaited  around  him  Avitli  perpetual 
solicitations.     In  1849,. Mr.  Mangum  one  of  the  confidential 


W^ 


(25) 

advisors  of  the  I^rcsidoat,  wrote  to  ]\Ir.  Graham  that  he 
might  make  his  election  between  the  Mission  to  Russia  and 
the  Mission  to  Spaifi.  Suhsequently  tlie  Mission  to  Spain 
was  tendered  to,  and  declined  by  liim.  ^        f 

Upon  the  accession  of  Mr.  Fillmore  to  the  Presidency,  a  *^*^ 
seat  in  the  Cabinet  was  tendered  to  Mr,  Graham.     In  the     t\  . 
letter  addressed  to  him  b}-  the  President,  informing  him  of     n 
his  appointment,  he  said:    "I  trust  that  you  will  accept  the        -"^ 
office,   and  enter  upon   the  discharge    of   its  duties  at  the 
earliest  day.     I  am  sure  that  tlie  appointment  will  be  highly 
acceptable  to  the  country,  as  I  can  assure  you,  your  accept- 
ance will  be  gratifying  to  me,"'    In  a  letter  couched  in  proper 
terms,  dated  July  25,  he  communicated  his  acceptance. 

His  first  report  as  Secretar\'  of  the  Navy  is  dated  the  SOtii 
of  November,  1850.  His  diligence,  during  the  two  months 
which  had  elapsed  from  the  time  when  he  assumed  oflice,  is 
attested  by  the  comprehensive  nature  of  that  report.  It 
embraced  a  review  of  the  whole  Xaval  establishment,  accom- 
panied b}^  recommendations,  which,  in  many  particulars, 
went  to  the  extent  of  a  re-organization  of  the  Xavy.  The 
recommendations  involved,  especially,  great  changes  in  the 
2)ersonnel  of  the  jSTavy :  such  as  the  retirement  of  ofiicers^ 
promotions  on  a  new"  system,  and  other  changes  equally 
great,  and  it  is  with  pleasure  we  ol)serve  the  spirit  ( f  equity 
and  the  sense  of  delicacy  wdiich  pervade  these  recommenda- 
tions— equity  in  providing  compensation  for  retiring  ofiicere  ; 
delicacy  in  the  manner  in  wdiich  the  changes  are  to  be  car- 
ried into  ettecr.  The  subject  matter  of  this,  and  subsequent 
reports,  lies  beyond  the  domain  of  our  observation.  I  therev 
fore  subjoin  a  few  testimonials  from  many  at  hand,  to  assist 
our  judgment  of  this  part  of  his  career. 

A  distinguished  Senator  of  great  experience  and  wide 
national  reputation  wrote  as  follows  of  his  first  report : 
*' You  had  a  new  field  opened  to  you  and  well  and  ably  have  , 

you  occupied  every  portion  of  it.  The  report  is  to  be  prop- 
erly characterized  by  a  bold  originality  of  conception,  and 


(26) 

a  fearlessness  of  responsibility,  too  rare  in  that  class  of  State 
papers. 

"You  bave  had  to  grapple  with  a  system  built  up  by  a 
series  of  abuses,  and  to  use  the  knife — that  fearful  and  un- 
popular instrument — somewhat  unsparingly. 

"  If  I  do  not  greatly  err,  it  will  give  you  more  reputation 
in  the  country  than  anything  you  have  hitherto  produced 
"before  the  public." 

In  a  letter  dated  the  10th  of  February,  1851,  Mr.  Benton 
wrote  as  follows:  "I  have  just  read  a  second  time,  your 
report  on  the  Coast  Survey  Subject.  I  consider  it  one  of  the 
most  perfect  reports  I  ever  read — a  model  of  a  business 
report,  and  one  which  should  carry  conviction  to  every  can- 
did, inquiring  mind.  T  deem  it  one  of  the  largest  reforms, 
both  in  an  economical  and  administrative  jioint  of  view, 
which  the  state  of  our  affairs  admits  of."" 

His  administration  of  the  Navy  Department  was  signalized 
hy  an  enterprise,  which,  for  the  completeness  of  the  success 
with  which  it  was  crowned,  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
of  the  age — the  Japan  expedition.  A  brief  retrospect  will 
assist  us  to  appreciate  its  difhculties  and  triumphs.  In  the 
year  1G37  was  consumated  a  revolution  in  the  Empire  of 
Japan,  which  resulted  in  the  banishment  of  the  Portugese, 
the  only  European  people  who  had  free  access  to  that  Em- 
pire, and  who  appeared  to  have  firmly  fixed  themselves 
there.  While  the  merchants  of  that  nation  succeeded  in 
possessing  themselves  of  nearly  the  whole  foreign  trade  of 
the  country,  its  missionaries  had  exerted  not  less  activity  in 
the  conversion  of  the  natives  to  the  faith  of  Rome.  The 
secular  rulers,  with  most  of  the  I'rinces,  had  accepted  the 
Christian  religion  :  it  was  reckoned  that,  about  that  period, 
one-half  of  the  inha1>itants  were  Christians-  The  now  revo- 
lution re-established  the  ancient  religion.  In  the  forty  years'" 
persecution  which  succeeded,  many  millions  of  lives  were 
sacrificed,  and  the  Christiari  religion,  it  was  supposed,  ex- 
tinsuished  there  forever. 


(27) 

In  consequence  of  this  revolution  all  trade  and  intercouree 
with  civilized  nations  were  cut  off,  except  with  the  Dutch, 
and  as  to  them,  was  limited  in  amount,  and  circumscribedHo 
one  place.  This  concession,  moreover,  was  purchased  by  the 
most  abject  submission,  and  was  attended  with  the  greatest 
humiliation.  A  very  limited  trade  was  likewise  permitted 
to  China.  With  these  exceptions  the  Japanese  had  with- 
drawn from  the  world.  The  settled  feeling  of  the  people 
was  one  of  unmixed  hostility  to  all  nations  professing  the 
christian  religion ;  the  settled  policy  of  the  government,  one 
of  non-intercourse  with  such  nations,  diplomatic  or  commer- 
cial. Within  the  centur}'  preceding  that  expedition,  the 
English  had  made  many  efforts,  as  had  also  the  Russians 
since  1792,  to  establish  intercourse  with  a  country  abound- 
ing with  so  many  objects  of  desire  to  civilized  man.  All  of 
these  efforts  had  failed  in  turn.  In  1846  an  attempt  to  ac- 
complish the  same  object  was  made  by  the  United  States. 
A  fleet  was  sent  under  Commodore  Biddle,  which  came  to 
anchor  at  Jeddo.  in  July  of  thatj^ear.  It  remained  ten  days, 
but  no  one  was  peimitted  to  land,  and  nothing  was  accom- 
plished. In  1849  the  Preble,  under  Commodore  Glynn,  was 
sent  out  to  Ja})an  to  demand  the  release  of  sixteen  American 
vsailors  who  had  been  wrecked  on  one  of  the  islands,  and  who 
had  been  detained  in  prison  many  months — an  imprisonment, 
the  hardship  of  which  was  aggravated  by  great  cruelty  and 
inhumanity.  Alter  various  resorts,  intended  apparently  to 
test  the  temper  of  the  Commander  and  the  government 
which  he  represented  ;  after  various  delays,  occasioned  by 
the  evasive  diplonuicy  of  Japanese  oflicials,  the  prisoners 
were,  at  length,  delivered  up  and  brought  home.  The  duty 
of  giving  adequate  })rotection  to  American  citizens,  thus 
added  another  motive  foroj»eningup  intercourse  with  Japan. 
In  the  mind  of  Mr.  Graham  the  obligation  of  this  duty  was 
supreme.  A  government  which  failed  to  give  protection  to 
its  citizens  on  every  part  of  the  earth's  surface,  and  among 
every  people  was,  in  his  opinion,  a  government  but  in  name. 


(28) 

IIo  therefore  resolvcfl,  iu  ^>vhieli  resolution  he  was  strongly 
supported  bj^  the.  President,  to  send  an  expedition  to  Japan 
and  bring  that  em[)ire  within  the  pale  and  comit}^  of  civil- 
ized nations.  The  eonimand  was  assigned  to  Commodore 
Perry.  The  event  shovvcd  Avhat  statesmanlike  sagacity  Avas 
exercised  in  planning  the  expedition  and  in  the  selection  of 
its  leader.  Everything  that  was  contemplated  was  accom- 
plished. The  success  of  that  ex[>edition  constitutes  one  of 
the  I'rincipal  claims  of  Mr.  Filmore's  administration  to  the 
admiration  of  the  country  and  of  posterity.  Its  success  con- 
stitutes, indeed,  an  era  in  the  history  of  the  world.  Its  re- 
sults have  been  great  an<l  canuut  but  be  enduring.  It  has 
placed  our  relations  with  Jai)an  upon  a  just  and  honorable 
basis  It  has  given  a  new  direction  to  much  ©f  the  commerce 
of  the  VN-oi'ld — ]K)nring  its  fertilizing  tide  through  the  heart 
of  the  American  continent.  Its  etfects  upon  .Jaitan  are  but 
beginning  to  be  seen ;  yet  already  they  exceed  what  would 
have  been  brought  about  in  tlie  ordinary  course  of  atfairs  in 
a  thousand  years  Xo  people  have  ever  availed  themselves 
of  the  light  of  a  superior  civilization  as  the  Japanese  have. 
In  that  light  they  have  seen  the  unlitness  of  many  of  their 
old  institutions  and  liave  abandoned  them  ;  they  have  seen 
the  unlitness  of  their  language  for  foreign  intercourse,  and 
are  preparing  to  substitute  the  English  language.  Tlie 
changes  thus  made  are  harbingers  of  progress  which  will 
justify  the  most  lively  anticipations  for  the  future.  The 
friends  of  humanity  and  religion,  especially,  hail  the  pros- 
pect with  delight.  They  see  in  what  has  been  already  done, 
the  prospect  of  an  entire  change  in  the  institutions  of  that 
land.  They  hope,  at  no  distant  day,  to  see  liberal  institu- 
tions introduced  there.  They  hope  to  see  a  universal  recog- 
nition of  ])Opular  rights,  vrhere  the  bonds  of  caste  have  been 
so  inexoj'able ;  to  see  equal  law's  take  the  place  of  a  des[)ot'3 
will,  and  to  see  the  Christian  religion  again  introduced, 
^^^lever  more  to  be  disturbed  in  its  peaceful  reign. 

Another  expediticni  was  sent  out  in  1851  under  the  tlirec- 


tioii  of  tlie  Xa\\v  Poparttiient.  The  oltiuet  was  the  explora- 
tion of  the  A'alley  of  the  Auiazoii  in  the  interest-  of  coin- 
nu'i'ee.  The  instriu-tiou.s  to  Lieutenant  Ilei'ndon. — -to  whose 
charge  the  exjicdition  was  eonti'leil — ^contained  in  the  letter 
of  Mr.  Graliani,  of  Febraary  l.ltii,  were  fnH  and  particular. 
They  embraced  the  position  of  the  country — the  navigabili- 
ty of  its  streams— its  c;ipacities  for  tj-ade  and  coninierce — 
and  its  future  prospects.  In  Fe()ruary,  185-1, tlie  rejicirt  was 
liublished  l)y  order  of  Coiiu-ress.  It  i-outains  the  most  ample 
information  ujion  all  the  ])oints  embniced  in  the  instructions. 
In  the  London  "  \\'estmiiister  Review"  of  that  year,  it  was 
noticed  witlj  just  credit  to  the  author,  and  due  reco^rnitioii 
of  the  enlightened  policy  which  projected  the  expedition. 

in  the  year  I80O,  were  passed  those  great  measures  of  na-  (X.\)  ^U'^^ 
tional  liealing,  known  as  the  Compromise  Measures.  These  "^  ^'K 
constituted  a  jiart  of  a  series  of  measures  resorted  to  at  short  fN,  -  ,^-^' 
intervals  in  our  historv.  to  ^\\q  iieace  to  the  ever  recuri'iu^T  '^' 
agitation  on  the  subject  of  slavery.  This  question  had  l)eeti 
a  disturbing  one  from  tiie  commencement  of  our  national 
existence.  It  liad  presented  a  f()rmidable  lian'ier  to  the  for- 
mation of  our  federal  constitution;  this  was  removed  by  an 
adjustment,  based  upon  suffrage.  It  obtruded  itself  upon 
Congress  in  171*0,  in  a  ['etition  for  the  abolition  of  slaverv, 
headed  by  Dr.  Lrankiin  ;  this  was  |>at  at  rest  foi-  a  time  by 
a  resolution  of  that  body,  disclaiming  any  authority  to  inter- 
fere in  the  emancipation  of  slaves,  or  with  their  treatment 
in  an_\'  of  the  states.  It  emerged  again  in  1820.  in  a  more 
menacing  form  tlian  before,  startlin.g  the  country,  as  Mr. 
Jefferson  expressed  it,  'like  a  fire-bell  in  the  night ;"  it  was 
now  quieted  by  the  Missouri  compromise — long  res^iirded  as 
a  ""solemn  compact  and  covenant"  upon  the  l:>asis  of  a  fair 
division  of  the  public  domain  between  the  fi'ee  and  slave 
States.  The  question  was  put  at  i-est  for  a  long  time,  and  it 
was  hoped  that  the  rest  was  final.  It  sprung  up  again  in 
1S40,  in  connection  ^vith  the  vast  territory  acquired  b}'  the 
conquest  of  Mexico,  to  vhich  it  was  proposed  to  apply  the 


(30) 

**  Wilmot  Proviso,"  which  restricted  slavery  in  any  newly 
acquired  territory  without  regard  to  the  Missouri  compro- 
mise line.  The  old  settlement  being  thus  repudiated,  the 
country  was  given  up  to  agitation,  in  which  every  turbulent 
passion  seemed  let  loose.  This  agitation  raged  with  increas- 
ing violence  througn  every  session  down  to  the  administra- 
tion of  General  Taylor  and  of  his  successor,  Mr.  I'^illmorCs 
With  the  progress  of  the  discussion  the  sessions  grew  longer 
and  the  jiassious  of  men  more  stormy.  It  was  a  time  of  pro- 
found anxiety  and  apprehension.  The  imminence  of  the 
danger  brought  back  Mr.  Clay  to  the  Senate ;  liis  great  com- 
peers, Mr.  Calhoun  and  Mr.  Webster,  were  already  there. 
To  Mr.  Clay,  more  than  any  other,  the  eyes  of  the  country 
were  turned  at  this  crisis,  lie  had  once  before  (piictcd  the 
storm  which  threatened  the  country  from  the  same  ((uarter; 
it  was  believed  that  all  men  would  listen  to  him  now  It 
was  believed  that  the  winds  and  waves  of  iacti-.n  would  stiU 
obey  his  v(Mce.  He  Avas  in  the  fulness  of  his  lame,  lu 
abilities  he  had  no  superior,  in  eloquence  he  had  no  peer;  in, 
patriotism  he  ranked  with  the  Revolutionary  sires.  The 
country  did  not  look  to  him  in  vain. 

On  the  29th  of  January  he  brought  forwai'd  his  celebrated 
measures  of  conciliation  and  adjustment.  They  encountered 
great  opposition.  In  their  progress  they  were  altered  in 
form;  but  in  substance  they  were  finally  passed.  These 
measures  were  approved  everywhere,  and  gave  satisfaction 
to  an  overwhelming  majority  of  the  country. 

We,  standing  amid  the  wrecks  and  ruins,  in  which  that 
agitation  finally  resulted  ;  taught,  alas  !  by  the  most  mourn- 
ful of  all  wisdom,  that  which  comes  after  the  fact  accom- 
plished, know  that  this  healing  was  but  a  delusion.  We 
know^  that  this  slavery  question  was  a  cancer,  which,  though 
it  might  Ileal  over  and  wear  the  external  appearance  of 
health,  struck  deeper  in  with  each  specific,  to  re-appear  with. 
increased  virulence.  Yet  it  was  for  a  time  a  miracle  of 
healing.     The  measures  themselves  were    eminentlv  wise: 


(31) 

nay,  the  utmost  that  human  wisdom  could  do.  They  gave- 
peace  to  the  country— a  profound  peace  of  many  years.  A 
part  of  that  triumph  belongs  to  Xorth  Crrolina.  Iler  fa\'orite 
statesman  was  then  in  the  eahinet,  and  shared  in  the  coun- 
sels by  which  these  results  were  brought  about.  During  the 
progress  of  these  measures  he  was  in  constant  conference 
with  their  author,  and  to  the  opinion  of  none  did  their  c 
author  pay  greater  defereiice.  {v  ^  [  i^ 

His  labors  as  Secretary  of  the  Xavy  were  brought  to  a  ' 
sudden  termination.  The  Whig  party  met  in  convention  on 
the  16th  of  June,  1852,  and  put  in  nomination  for  the  Presi- 
dencj'  General  Scott,  and  for  the  Vice-Presidency  Mr.  Gra- 
ham. Mr.  Graham's  preference  for  the  1 'residency  was  in 
favor  of  Mr.  Fillmore,  and  without  a  distinct  declaration  of 
principles,  and  an  approval  of  the  course  of  his  administra- 
tion, he  would  not  have  permitted  his  name  to  be  placed  on 
any  other  ticket.  This  declaration  was  made,  and  in  terms, 
as  explicit  as  he  could  wish  ;  with  that  declaration,  it  be- 
came a  mere  calculation  of  chiinces  which  was  the  candidate 
the  most  acceptable  to  the  country.  Under  these  circum- 
stances he  "accepted  the  nomination.  Immediately  on  his 
acceptance,  with  a  view  as  he  expressed  it,  -'to  relieve  the 
admi'iistration  of  any  possible  criticism  or  embarrassment 
on  his  account  in  the  approaching  canvass,'"  he  tendered  his 
resignation.  Tlie  President  "appreciating  the  high  sense  of 
delicacy  and  propriety"'  which  prompted  this  act,  accepted 
his  resignation  with  expressions  of  "unfeigned  regret." 

In  Mr.  Stephen's  History  of  the  United  States,  it  is  said 
tliat  in  accepting  the  nomination  tendered  him  by  tlie 
Whigs,  General  Scott  "cautiously  avoided  endorsing  that 
portion  of  the  Wliig  platform  which  pledged  the  party  to- 
an  acceptance  of,  and  acquiescence  in  the  measures  of  1850." 
If  avoidance  there  was,  it  was  because  lie  deemed  it  unneces- 
sary to  pledge  his  faith  to  measures  with  which  lie  was  so 
intimately  identiiied.  lie  was  acting  Secretary  of  War  dur- 
ing the  pendency  of  these  measures.     "No  one,"  says  ^Ir.. 


Oraliain  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  "more  deeply  felt  the  im- 
portance of  the  crisis,  or  co-operated  with  us  more  eiRciently 
in  procuring  the  passage  of  the  Compromise  Measure,  or 
rejoiced  more  heartily  in  the  settlement  thereby  made." 
With  a  soldier's  sentiment  of  honor,  General  Scott  rested /n 
lii.s  record,  which  was  open  to  all  the  world.  But  the  charge 
of  unfaithfulness  to  those  measures  was  made  against  him, 
inid  ui-ged  with  fatal  eft'ect.  And  so  it  came  to  pass  that 
the  two  caiididates  who  had  exerted  all  their  abilities,  and 
used  all  their  inttuence,  oiticial  and  other,  to  secure  the  pas- 
sage of  the  Compromise  Measures,  were  beaten  upon  the 
charge  alleged  ao-ainst  one  of  them  of  unf^iithfulness  to  those 
measures 
,'      ,  After  his   retirement  from  the  cabinet,  and  in  the  same 

\    vear- — 18o2— he  delivered  the  sixth  lecture  in  the  course, 
'j^'"  "before  the  Historical  Society  of  New  York,  in  Metropolitan 
\    I.        Hall,  in  the  city  of  Xew  York.  '  ''The  attendance,"  we  are 
fc*^\     told  in  the  '"  Evening  Post'"  of  that  date,  "was  exeeedmgly 
-^  numerous."     Ever  anxious  to  exalt  his  S'^ate,  and  set  her 

liefore  the  A\orld  in  her  true  glory,  his  subject  was  taken 
iVom  the  history  of  Xc;rrh  Carolina.  It  was  the  Ihntish  in- 
vasion of  Xorth  Carolina  in  1780  and  "SI. 

It  is  known  what  scant  justice  has  been  done  to  our  State 
]»y  the  early  historians  of  the  country.  This  injustice  Mr. 
Graham,  as  far  as  a  lecture  would  admit,  undertook  to  re- 
dress. 'J  hough  his  subject  confined  him  to  the  events  of  less 
than  two  years,  and  took  up  the  story  five  years  after  the 
first  l;)lood  had  been  she<i  at  Lexington,  and  four  years  after 
tlie  Declaration  of  Independence,  he  presents  a  rapid  and 
grapliic  sketch  of  what  was  done  in  Xorth  Carolina  down  to 
the  year  ]78i").  He  depicts  the  advanced  state  of  opinion  in 
Xorth  Carolina  before  the  war:  he  recounts  the  military 
expeditions  sent  out  by  her  in  support  of  the  common  cause; 
5113(1  shows  that  '-from  Xew  York  to  Florida,  inclusive, there 
^■erc  few  liattle-fields  on  whicli  a  portion  of  the  troo])S  en- 
giiged    in  defense   of  the  liberties  of  the   country  were  not 


( •>-> ) 

liers."  Tie  then  places  before  ns  in  .sti'oii«;  colors,  tlio  period 
just  ])efore  Lord  Cornwall  is  conunenccd  his  famous  march — 
that  period  so  justly  designated  as  the  dark  days  of  the 
Revolution  ;  when  (Tooriria  and  South  Carolina  had  hecn 
^  /er-rnn  and  subjugated  ;  when  the  army  of  the  South  had 
been  nearly  annihilated  by  the  disastrous  l^attle  of  Camden 
and  the  catastrophe  of  Fishing  Creek,  lie  relates  the  bold 
fffieasures — measures  which  call  to  mind  those  of  Rome,  at 
similar  crises  of  peril — with  which  the  State  of  North  Caro 
lina  prepared  to  meet  the  impending  shock.  He  then  enters 
upon  a  narrative  of  the  different  operations  of  the  American 
^nd  British  armies  under  their  respective  commanders, 
Oreene  and  Cornwallis,  and  a  finer  narrative  it  would  be 
•difficult  to  point  out.  A  bare  recital  of  the  incidents  of  that 
campaign  could  not  want  interest  in  the  hands  of  the  driest 
Jbistorian,  but  in  this  narrative  it  is  brought  before  us  in 
vivid  colors.  By  his  brief  but  striking  delineation  of  the 
principal  actors ;  by  his  rapid  touches  in  which  the  relative 
st^to  of  the  Whig  and  Tory  population  of  that  day  is  brought 
to  view  ;  by  his  sketches  of  the  scenery  of  the  Piedmont 
<rou!itry-^the  theater  of  that  campaign ;  by  his  notices  of 
individual  adventure;  above  all,  by  his  masterly  recital  of 
the  incidents  of  the  retreat  of  General  Greene  and  the  pur- 
suit of  Lord  Cornwallis — a  retreat  in  which  the  hand  of 
Providence  seemed  from  time  to  time,  so  visibly  interposed 
— the  grand  procession  of  events  pass  before  us  with  the 
interest  of  an  acted  drama.  We  experience  a  feeling  of  deep 
relief,  when  at  length,  the  army  of  Greene  is  placed  in  safety. 
After  taking  breath,  which  we  had  held  as  it  were,  durintr 
the  quick  succession  of  events  in  that  celebrated  retreat,  we 
retrace  our  steps  and  the  interest  culminates  in  the  battle  of 
Guilford.  "The  philosophy  of  history,"  says  Mr.  Benton  in 
3iis  '  Thirty  Year's  View,'  has  not  yet  laid  hold  of  the  battle 
of  Guilford  ;  its  consequences  and  events.  That  battle  made 
the  capture  of  Yorktow^i.  The  events  are  told  in  history, 
the  connections  and  dependence  in  none."     The  future  his- 


(34) 

toi-iaii   will  find  the  task  done  to  liis  hand  in  this  Lecture^ 
Its  decisive  character  is  there  appreciated  and  set  forth. 

In  the  remainder  of  the  Lecture  he  glances  at  the  minor 
invasion  of  Colonel  Craig,  and  the  operations  under  his  com- 
mand from  the  valley  of  the  Nense  to  the  highlands  of 
Chatham,  and  at  the  romantic  career  of  the  vile  hut  intrepid 
Fanning.  He  gives  us  a  sketch  of  Governor  Burke,  his  cap- 
ture and  escape.  lie  presents  a  brief  view  of  tlie  ex})editioit 
of  General  Rutherford  against  the  British  post  at  Wilming- 
ton, who,  after  man}-  skirmishes,  drove  and  kept  the  British 
and  Lo^-alists  within  the  lines  of  the  garrison,  until  the 
evacuation  of  the  town,  and  the  I'etreat  of  the  enemy  to 
Charleston,  lie  sets  out  the  forces  sent  forth  by  North  Caro- 
lina, under  General  Sumter,  which  forces  formed  a  conspic- 
uous part  of  Greene's  line  at  Eutaw,  and  followed  the  tlag  of 
the  Union  until  the  disapjiearance  of  the  enemy's  sails  off" 
the  Harbor  of  Charleston. 

The  Lecture  closes  with  some  reflections  on  the  "  Act  of 
}»ardon  and  Oblivion"'  i)assed  by  the  Legislature,  alter  the- 
proclamation  of  peace,  at  it.s  first  session  in  17bo.  "An  Act,'"'" 
says  Ml".  Graham,  "of  grace  and  magnanimity,  worthy  of  the- 
heroic,  but  Christian  awd  forbearing  spirit  which  ha«l  tri- 
umphed in  the  struggle  just  ended."  The  words  have  a. 
peculiar  and  melancholy  significance  t)  us,  who  recollect 
how  long  after  the  war,  he  stood  among  us  as  an  alien  and  a. 
stranger,  deprived  of  the  commonest  right  of  citizenship ;; 
and  how  by  mistaken  party  spirit  he  was  debarred  the  enjoy- 
ment of  those  Senatorial  honors,  Avith  which  a  grateful  peo- 
ple would  have  clieered  and  crowned  the  evening  of  his; 
life. 

This  Lecture  will,  I  think,  be  regarded  as  the  maturest  ot* 
his  literary  efforts.  It  presents  the  events  of  the  time  of 
which  it  treats  in  new  condjinations,  and  sheds  iipcn  them 
new  lights  from  original  investigations.  The  style  is  alwaj's- 
clear,  forcible  and  harmonious.  Classic  ornament  is  intro- 
duced to  an  extent  rare  for  him  ;  for  though  he  retained  his; 


(35) 

classicil  learning  to  the  end  of  his  life,  his  sense  of  fitness 
led  him  to  employ  very  sparingly, .what  any  one  might  be 
disposed  to  attribute  to  ostentation.  Altogether  it  is  the 
most  valuable  contribution  3-et  made  to  the  history  of  North 
Carolina  at  that  era.  It  sets  the  State  in  a  jnster  light  than 
anything  on  record.  It  particularly  commends  itself  to  all 
who  cherish  in  their  hearts  the  sacred  llame  of  State-love 
and  State-pride  ;  to  all  who  hold  in  honor  the  renown  of  their 
ancestry  ;  to  all  who  would  catch 

"Ennobling  imiuilse  fi'dm  Ihe  i)ast." 

Mr.  Graham  was  agam   a   membci-  of  the  Legislature  iu  '* 

Ibo-i-'o.     The  great  question  of  that  session  was  what  was   \  C 

pop\darly  known  as   "Free    Sutfrage."     Its  object   was  to      . 

al)olish  tlie  property  (pialificatioii  for  the  Senate,  and  extend     \ 

to  every  voter  the  same  right  of  suffrage,  whether  i')v  the 

Senate  or  the  House.     To  this  extensiou  of  sutfrage  per  se  he 

made  no  objection.     He  contended,  however,  that  the  con-    ' 

stitution  was  based  upon  carefully  ^adjusted  compi-omiscs  of 

contUctins;  interests,  and  that  an  amendment  of  the  consti-  «\ 

,  .      .  .  .  .       4  ^■ 

tution  confined  to  this  single  point — as  it  mnst  necessaril/ 

be  if  carried  out  by  the  Legislative  method — -would  disturb  tV 

those  compromises  and  thus  destroy  or  greatly  impair  the 

harmony  of  that  instrument.     He,  therefore,  julvocated  the 

calling  of  a  convention,  that  all  the  questions  embraced  in 

these  conq:»romises  might  l>e  tluly  considered,  and  other  parts 

re-adjusted  to  suit  those  which  might  be  changed.     These 

views  were  presented  in  a  speech,  memorable  for  its  ability. 

In  the  former  part  he  discusses  the  question  at  issue,  and 

here  will  be  found  some  of  the  finest  examples  of  his  skill  as 

a  dialectician ;  in  the  latter  part  he  gave  an  exposition  of 

the  subject  in  all  its  constitutional   bearings — an  exposition 

learned,  lucid  and  conclusive. 

The   administration  of  Mr.  Luchanan   drew   to  its  close  (/"^ 

amidst  signs  ominous  for  the  future  tranquility'  of  the  coun-  y  ' 


(36) 

try.     These  signa  a^Yakened  the  fears  of  all  who  loved  and 
valued  the  Union,  and  the  trusted  statesmen  of  the  country 
made  arrangements  to  meet  for  conference,  and  to  give  ex- 
pression to  their  views.     The  Executive  Committee  of  the 
•Constitutional  Union  party  determined   early   in  January, 
1860,  to  issue  an  address  to  the  peo])le  of  the  United  States 
iipon  the  grave  exigencies  in  national  [jolitics.     A  committee 
of  seven,  all  men  of  the  highest  national  distinction,  among 
whom   was    Mr    Graham,   was   appointed    to    prepare    the 
address.     Mr.  Crittenden  notitied  him  of  his  appointment  in 
a  letter  of  January  2!tli,  and  urged  his  attendance  at  the 
meeting  of  the  committee.     In  his  answer,  Mr.  Graham  had 
left  it  doubtful  whether  the  pressure  of  his  engagements 
TV^ould  permit  his    attendancj,  and  recpiested   that  another 
might  be  appointed   in  his  place      Accordingly  Governoi- 
Morehead  was  appointed.     But  Mr.  (/rittenden  wrote  again, 
and  to  show  the  importance  attached  to  his  judgment  and 
action,  I  subjoin  an  extract  from  his  letter:  'The  crisis  is 
important,  and  fills  the  public  mind  with  expectation  and 
anxiety.     It  is  earnestly' to  be  desired  that  the  chai'acter  of 
our  convention  should  be  conspicuous  and  equal  to  tht^  oeea- 
eion.     We  have  good  reason  to  feel  assured  of  the  attendance 
of  many  of  the  most  eminent  men  of  the  country,  and  it  is 
by  the  great  weight  of  the  moral  and  public  character  of  its 
members  that  the  convention  must  hope  to  obtain  for  its 
acts  or  counsels,  whatever  they  may  be,  respect  and  influence 
with  the  people.     We  cannot  do  without  yoiwassistavcr  and 
name.     All  the  members  of  the  committee,  who  Avere  present 
when  your  letter  was  read,  united  in  wishing  me  to  write 
and  to  urge  your  coming  to  the  convention.     Your  absence 
will  be  a  positive  iveight  against  us." 

A  number  of  eminent  statesmen,  among  whom  was  Mr. 
Graham,  met  in  W^ashington  City,  in  February,  to  consult 
together  upon  the  dangers  which  menaced  the  country.  The 
xesult  was  the  convention  which  nominated  the  Constitutional 
"Union  ticket  for  the  Presidency,  in  behalf  of  which  he  can- 


(37) 

vassed  the  State.  Upon  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincohi  he  made 
IMiblic  addresses,  and  exhorted  the  people  to  yield  due  obe- 
dience to  his  office. 

Bnt  tbo  tempest  liad  long  been  gathering,  and  was  now  S' 
ready  to  burst.     No  human  i)0vver  could  avert  it.     The  people       ' 
of  South  Carolina,  and  of  the  other  States  of  the  far  South,,  C 
had  been  educated   in   tlie  doctrine  of  secession,  and  there- 
were  few  m  those  States  who  did  not  hold  that  doctrine  as  ^^ 
an  undeniable  article  of  political  faith.     The  time  was  come    • 
wlien  this  doctrine  was  to  be  tested.     The  election  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  constituted  the  cause  in  the  minds  of  the  people  of 
South  Carolina.     On  the  20th  of  December,  1860,  that  State- 
held  a  convention,  and   declared   her  connection  with  the 
United  States  dissolved,  and  proceeded  to  put  herself  in  an 
attitude  to  make  good  her  declaration.     In  this  action  she- 
was  followed  by  States  to  the  south  of  lier,  and  on  similar- 
grounds. 

The  doctrine  of  secession  met  with   little  favor  in  Xorth-  C(  ' ' 
Carolina.     As  a  right  deduced  from  the  Constitution,  and  to  ; 
be  exercised   under  its  authority,  it  was  believed  by  Mr.  '^^"" 
Graham,  and  the  scliool  of  statesmen  to  which  he  belono-ed,  iU( 
to  be  Avithout  foundation.     The  Legislature  of  Xorth  Caro- 
lina directed  the  question  of  a  convention  to  be  submitted  to-  ^.I 
the  people.     The  question  wfs  discussed,  in  the  light  of  re-  ^ 
cent  events,  by  the  Press  of  the  State,  and  numerous  meetings 
of  the  people  were  held  in  every  jjart.     These  meetings  were 
addressed  by  our  ablest   men.     Amongst  these  a  monster 
meeting  was  held  at  Salisbury,    which  was   addressed  by 
(Governor  Morehead,  Mr.  Badger  and  Mr.  Graham,  who,  as. 
well  for  the  exalted  positions  they  had  held  as  for  their  com^ 
manding  abilities,  were  looked  to  for  counsel  in  this  emer- 
gency.     The   peo[.le   at   the   polls   pronounced   with  great 
unanimity  against  a  convention. 

But  events  were  marching  on  with  rapid  strides.  On  theS^*^ 
loth  of  April,  1861,  Sumter  surrendered  to  Confederate  guns,  r  ^ 
On  the  loth,  Mr.  Lincoln  issued  his  call  for  75,000  troops.  "'.^ 


^t*^ 


(38) 

This  call  was  made  without  authority,  and  was  the  first  of 
that  series  of  public  measures  culminating  in  the  unauthor- 
ized suspension  of  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act  on  the  10th  of 
May,  under  the  shock  of  which  the  public  liljerties  of  the 
-North  for  a  time  went  down. 

•By  these  events  the  aspect  of  things  was  wholly  changed. 
The  question  of  secession  as  a  right,  whether  the  election  of 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  just  cause  for  the  exercise  of  the  right, 
had  drifted  out  of  sight.  War  was  inevitable.  Virginia 
had  followed  the  example  of  the  Southern  States,  and  North 
Carolina  was  now  girdled  with  seceded  States.  All  that  was 
3eft  her  was  a  choice  of  sides.  The  language  of  Mr.  Graham 
at  this  crisis  was  the  language  of  all  thoughtful  men  ;  nay, 
it  w^as  the  language  of  the  human  heart.  And  looking  back 
upon  all  that  we  have  suflered — and  there  are  none,  even  in 
the  Northern  States,  but  say  we  have  suffered  enough—  if  a 
similar  conjuncture  were  to  arise,  the  heart  would  speak  out 
the  same  language  again.  Speaking  the  voice  of  the  ])eople 
of  North  Carolina,  as  he,  from  the  high  trusts  confided  to 
him  in  his  past  life,  and  from  the  confidence  always  reposed 
in  him,  was  more  than  any  other  commissioned  to  do,  in  a 
public  address  at  Ilillsboro,  in  March,  1861,  he  expressed 
liimself  as  follows : 

''  Ardent  in  their  attachment  to  the  Constitution  and  the 
Union,  they  had  condemned  separate  State  secession  as  rash 
iind  precipitate,  and  wanting  in  respect  to  the  sister 
States  of  identical  interests  ;  and  as  long  as  there  was  hope 
of  an  adjustment  of  sectional  differences,  they  were  unwilling 
to  part  with  the  Goverimient,  and  give  success  to  the  move- 
ment for  its  overthrow^  which  appeared  on  the  part  of  some, 
^t  least,  to  be  but  the  revelation  of  a  long  cherished  design. 
13ut  the  President  gives  to  the  question  new  alternatives. 
These  are,  on  the  one  hand,  to  join  with  him  in  a  war  of 
conquest,  for  it  is  nothing  less,  against  our  brethren  of  the 
.seceding  States — or,  on  the  other,  resistance  to  and  throwing 
off  the  oblio-ations  of  the  Federal  Constitution.     Of  the  two. 


(39) 

we  do  not  hesitate  to  accei>t  the  latter.  Blood  is  thicker 
than  water.  How  widely  we  have  dittcred  from,  and  freely 
criticized  the  course  taken  by  these  States,  they  are  much 
mol-e  closely  united  with  us,  by  the  ties  of  kindred,  atfection, 
:and  a  i)eculiar  interest,  which  is  denounced  and  warred  upon 
at  the  ISTorth,  without  reference  to  any  localiti/  in  our  own 
section,  than  to  any  of  the  Northern  States.'"' 

Under  the  influence  of  these  counsels,  so  wisely  and  tem- 
perately expressed,  a  convention  of  the  people  of  jSTorth  Caro- 
lina was  called.     On  the  20th  of  May,  a  day  memorable  in 
the  annals  of  the  State  and  of  the  world,  the  convention        / 
passed  the  ordinance  of  secession.  [l 

For  this  ordinance  the  vote  was  unanimous.  But  though  t 
the  vote  indicated  an  entire  unanimity  among  the  members  fl  P 
it  was  unanimity  only  as  to  the  end  to  be  accomplished. 
The  views  of  Mr.  Graham,  and  the  statesmen  with  whom  he 
.acted,  had,  in  regard  to  secession  as  a  Constitntional  remedy, 
underg-one  no  chano;e.  To  set  forth  their  views,  Mr.  Badger 
•pifered  a  series  of  resolutions  in  the  nature  of  a  protestation 
— an  exclusion  of  a  conclusion.  These  resohitions  asserted 
the  right  of  revolution,  and  based  the  action  of  the  conven- 
tion on  that  ground  ;  but  the  minds  of  men  had  been  wrought 
to  such  a  pitch  of  excitement  that  the  distinction  was  un- 
heeded, and  the  resolutions  failed.  /O 

On  the  20th  of  June  tne  convention  passed  the  ordinance    /' 
by  which  the  State  of  North  Carolina  became  a  member  of  . ,,    \j 
the  Confederacy.     To  this  measure   Mr.  Graham  otlered  a    -'^ 
strong  but  fruitless  opposition.     In  the  perilous  career  upon 
which  we  were  about  to  enter  he  was  unwilling  to  surrenc^er 
the  sovereignty  of  the  State  into  the  hands  of  those  whose 
rash  counsels  had,  in  the  judgment  of  the  people  of  North 
Carolina,  precipitated  the  war.     lie  wished  the  State  to  hold 
her  destinies  in  her  own  hands,  that  she  might  act  as  ex- 
igencies might  require.      Those    who  realize   the  delusive 
views  under  which  the  government  at  Kichmond  acted  dur- 


( -io ) 

ing  tlie  last  months  of  the  war  will  tec  in  this  o})iiiio» 
anotlier  proof  of  his  wise  foresight. 

The  progress  of  the  war  which  now  broke  out  with  such 
fury  demonstrated  that  there  were  here,  as  at  the  Xorth, 
those  w^ho  conceived  that  the  public  peril  liad  merged  the 
constitution  and  the  laws.  Early  in  the  session  "an  ordi- 
nauce  to  define  and  punish  sedition  and  to  prevent  the  dan- 
gers which  may  arise  from  persons  disaiFected  to  the  State," 
was  introduced. 

On  the  7th  of  December  Mr.  Graham  addressed  the  con- 
vention in  opposition  to  this  ordinance.  Tlie  speech  which 
he  delivered  on  this  occasion  was,  perhajis,  the  noblest  effort 
oi  his  life.  It  breathes  the  true  spirit  of  American  freedom. 
It  is  the  product  of  a  mind  deejdy  injbued  with  the  great 
principles  of  civil  liberty,  and  Avhich  had  devoutly  meditated 
upon  all  those  safeguards  which  the  wisdom  of  successive 
generations  had  thrown  around  it.  His  wide  acquaintance 
with  history  had  made  him  familiar  Avith  every  device  by 
which  liberty  may  be  sapped  and  undermined  ;  his  exalted 
estimate  of  its  value  and  dignity  had  developed  this  ac- 
(piaintance  into  a  special  sense  by  which  he  could  detect  any 
design  hostile  to  it,  under  any  i)retence  or  subterfuge,  how- 
ever specious  or  skillful.  This  special  faculty  is  strikingly 
exhibited  in  this  speech  in  tracing  and  laying  bare  the  dan- 
gerous tendencies  which  everywdiere  lurked  under  this  ordi- 
nance. It  abounds  with  historical  illustrations  and  allu- 
sions. It  contains  passages  of  graphic  eloquence — that, 
among  others,  in  which  he  sketches  the  settlement  of  the 
Society  of  Friends  in  this  State,  and  with  a  few  touches  de- 
picts the  genius  of  that  sect.  It  is  pervaded  by  a  warmth 
and  animation  unwonted  in  his  speeches,  sometimes,  indeed, 
bordering  upon  enthusiasm.  In  none  of  his  parliamentary- 
efforts  does  he  seem  to  have  yielded  so  freely  to  his  native 
impulses  and  feelings.  It  is  strictly  logical  in  its  structure 
and  advances  by  regular  progression.  In  its  style  it  is  nerv- 
ous and  idomatic,  and  fhe  thoughts  are  often  expressed  wdtk 


(41) 

tlie  liighest  degree  ot"  energy  and  terseness.     Like  all  great 
leaders  he  had  the  power  of  clothing  jwpular  thoughts  iq 
brief,  pithy  expressions,  which  at  once  become  current  like- 
stamped  coin.     One  such,  uttered  by  him  on  that  occasion^ 
was  worthy  many  speeches :  "  We  are  resolved  to  be  inde- 
pendent and  free,  not  only  in  the  end,  but  in  the  ineans"' 
From  the  commencement  to  the  conclusion  of  this  speech  he- 
moves  with  equal  freedom,  grace  and  power.  (1   6    [a 
From  the  beginning  of  the  war  the  current  of  power  set  f^-'^-^^^ 
steadily  from  the   Confederate  States  to   the    Confederate       ^^ 
government ;  and  with  each  year  of  the  war,  the  current  '■■■ 
flowed  on  with  increasing  tide.     Within  its  just  bounds,  no    Cjjv^ 
man  yielded  a  heartier  allegiance  to  tliat  government  than.    0 
Mr.  Graham  ;  but  on  the  other  hand,  no  man  stood  ready  to 
oppose  a  firmer  resistance  when  that  government  overstepped 
those  bounds.     The  war  had  been  begun  ajid  was  then  prose- 
cuted for  the  maintenance  of  great  principles,  and  it  wasbis 
fixed  purpose  that  civil  liberty  should  not,  at  the  South  as  at 
the  Korth,  be  engulfed  in  its  progress.     In  the  year  1862  a- 
minister  of  the  gospel — a  man  of  learning  and  of  irreproach- 
able character — was  arrested  in  the  count}^  of  Orange,  under 
a  military  order,  sent  to  Richmond  and   cast  into  prison^ 
He   was   not   in  the  military    service   of   the   Confederate 
States,  and  therefore  not  amenable  to  military  law.     As  a^ 
proceeding  against  a  citizen,  such  an  arrest,  without  charge-^ 
made  on  oath  and  without  warrant,  was  in  violation  of  alb 
law ;  while  his  deportation  beyond  the  limits  of  the  State^ 
for  trial  by  military  tribunal,  was  in  contempt  of  the  dig- 
nity and  sovereignty  of  the  State.     Mr.  Graham,  being  then.. 
Senator  from  Orange,  introduced  a  resolution  demanding  a^ 
return  of  the  prisoner  to  the  State,  which  was  passed  at 
once.     On  introducing  the  resolution,  he  expressed  the  opin- 
ion that  the  proceeding  was  without  the  sanction  of  the 
Confederate  Executive,  or  of  the  Secretary  of  War.     The- 
sequel  proved  this  supposition  to  be  correct ;   the  prisoner 
was  sent  back  with  a  disavowal  of  any   knowledge  of  the- 


(42) 

proceeding  on  the  part  of  the  President  or  the  Secretary, 
mntil  the  confinement  of  the  prisoner  in  the  military  prison 
;at  Richmond.  The  Secretary  frankly  admitted  the  errone- 
•vons  nature  of  the  arrest  and  imprisonment,  and  disclaimed 
nil  intention  to  interfere  with  the  rightful  jurisdiction  of 
the  Stat«.  On  the  22d  of  January,  1863 — upon  the  incom- 
ing of  the  message  Avith  the  accompanying  documents, 
touching  the  case — Mr.  Graham  paid  a  merited  tribute  to 
the  enlightened  comprehension  of  the  relations  existing  be- 
tween tlie  Confederate  government  and  the  States,  evinced 
ihy  these  sentiments,  and  in  the  further  remarks  submitted 
^hj  him,  he  took  occasion  to  re-state  the  great  principles  of 
jporeonal  liberty — daily  more  and  more  endangered  in  the 
'ooarse  of  the  war — and  to  impress  them  upon  the  public 
miind  by  apt  comments  upon  the  case  to  which  the  public  at- 
tention was  then  so  strongly  directed.  This  was  the  first, 
and  is  believed  to  have  been  the  last  case,  in  which  military 
power  was  used  to  override  civil  law. 
jhj^^  III  December,  1863,  Mr.  Graham  was  elected  to  the  Con- 
^  r.,^federate  Senate  by  a  majority  of  two-thirds  of  the  Legislature. 
^It*-*^  He  took  his  seat  in  May,  1S64.  There  was  then  need  of  the 
best  counsel.  The  brilliant  successes  "which  had  crowned 
-our  arms  in  the  early  years  of  the  war,  had  been  replaced  by 
a  succession  of  disasters.  The  battle  of  Gettysburg  and  the 
fall  of  Vicksburg  had  brought  us  apparently  to  the  brink  of 
fate.  As  the  year  1864  rolled  on,  the  prospect  became 
-darker  and  darker,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year  the  situation 
Avas  to  the  last  degree  critical.  Our  territory  had  been  cut 
in  twain,  and  we  were  beleaguered  by  land  and  by  sea. 
Within  the  area  which  acknowledged  the  Confederate  Gov- 
ernment, there  was  great  exhaustion  of  all  kinds  of  military 
supplies,  and  a  like  exhaustion  of  all  the  elements  for  the 
support  of  human  life.  General  Lee  was  only  able  to  oppose 
the  front  of  General  Grant  by  extending  his  line  until  it  was 
ready  to  snap  from  excessive  tension.  To  strengthen  his 
force  from  the  white'race  was  impossible  ;  conscription  there 


(43) 

had  reached  its  liniit.  General  Sherman  had  swept  through 
Oeorffia,  and  tlic  hroad  track  of  desolation  which  he  left 
uehind  him  too  truly  told  the  story  of  our  helplessness.  It  was 
known  that  each  Confederate  soldier  was  opposed  by  as  many 
as  five  Federal  soldiers  ;  the  former  scantily  fed,  clothed  and 
shod;  the  latter  supplied  with  every  comfort  and  many 
luxuries.*  It  Avas  plain  there  was  no  longer  an}-  hope  of  a 
successful  prosecution  of  the  war.  In  the  midst  of  a  dense 
gloom  which  shro'uded  the  country  on  every  side,  a  ray  of 
light  dawned  in  the  proposed  peace  conference  at  Hampton 
Koads.  Mr.  Graham  had  endeavored  to  reach  this  form  of 
intercourse  from  the  commencement  of  the  session.  He  was 
not  without  hope  of  a  peaceful  termination  of  hostilities ; 
not  so  much  from  his  estimate  of  the  statesmanship  of  Presi- 
dent Davis  and  his  Cabinet,  as  from  the  extremity  of  the 
case  which  left  no  other  alternative.  The  conference  took 
place  on  the  3rd  of  February,  ]8G5.  The  terms  offered  by 
Mr.  Lincoln  were,  that  the  seceded  States  should  return  to 
the  Union  under  ihe  Constitution,  in  the  existing  state  of 
affairs,  with  slavery  as  it  was,  but  liable  to  be  abolished  by 
an  amendment  to  the  Constitution.  lie  pledged  himself  to 
the  utmost  exercise  of  the  Executive  })Owers  in  behalf  of  the 
South.  The  demand  of  the  Commissioners  was  for  indepen- 
dence. There  could  be  no  middle  ground,  and  the  confer- 
ence ended.  Upon  the  return  of  the  Commissioners,  !Mr. 
Davis  and  Mr.  Benjamin  made  public  speeches  in  Richmond, 
to  fire  the  Southern  heart  anew ;  but  the  event  proved  how 
little  sagacity  they  brought  to  the  direction  of  affairs  at  that 
supreme  hour.     The  speeches  fell  still-born. 

One  principle  had  actuated  Mr.  Graham  from  the  begin, 
ning  of  the  war  ;  to  sustain  the  Government  in  its  struggles 
for  independence  until  it  should  be  demonstrated  that  our 


*  The  odds  were  exactly  seven  to  one.  "The  whole  number  of  Confederates 
sarrendereil,  including  I.ee's  and  all,  amounted  to  about  150,(M)0  under  arms 
The  whole  number  of  Federals,  then  in  the  field,  and  afterwards  mustered  out 
of  service,  as  the  records  show,  amounted,  in  round  numbers,  to  1,0.30,000.'  — 
Stephmis'  Historj/  of  the  United  Slafe.s,  p.  46  i. 


e 


resources  were  inadequate  for  that  end ;  and  when  that 
should  be  seen  and  acknowledged,  to  seek,  if  possible,  a 
peaceful  solution.  How  well  he  sustained  it  is  matter  of 
history.  He  sustained  it  in  every  way  in  which  his  talents 
and  his  means  could  be  made  available.  He  sustained  it  by 
his  counsels  in  the  State  and  in  thet'onfederate  government. 
He  sustained  it  b}'  blood  more  precious  in  liis  eyes  than  his 
own — all  his  sons,  live  in  number,  who  had  attained  the  age  of 
eighteen,  entered  the  army,  and  were  in  the  army  to  the  end. 

The  inadequacy  of  our  resources,  particularly  of  the  popu- 
lation from  which  our  soldiers  were  <lrawn,  had  now  been 
demonstrated.  It  was  known  to  Congress;  it  was  admitted 
by  General  Lee  m  his  pro^iosition  to  conseribe  sUives;  it  was 
proclaimed  from  tlie  ste})S  of  the  Ca[)itol  by  Mr.  Benjamin: 
*' Unless  the  slaves  are  armed,'"  he  said,  '•  the  cause  is  lost." 
Every  expedient  had  been  tried;  the  extremest  measures  had 
been  put  in  operation;  "by  means  of  conscription,  impress- 
ment laws,  and  the  suspension  of  the  habeas  corpus,  thcAvhole 
population,  and  all  the  resources  of  the  country,  had  long 
before  been  placed  at  the  command  of  the  I'rcsident  for  pro- 
secution of  the  war."     All  had  been  found  unavailing. 

One  resource,  in  the  opinion  of  some,  remained — the  con- 
scription of  negroes.  A  bill  for  this  purpose  was  introduced 
into  Congress,  Jt  was  opposed  by  Mr.  Graham  upon  the 
ground  that  it  was  imcoiistitutioual,  as  well  as  inexpedient 
and  dangerous.  His  sagacious  mind  saw  that  this  was  a 
measure,  not  of  safety,  but  a  measure  born  of  the  wild  prompt- 
ings of  despair.  On  the  21st  of  February  it  was  indctinitely 
postponed,  though  it  was  subsequently  taken  u[i  and  jiassed. 

If  ever  negotiation  was  to  be  resorted  to.  it  was  clear  the 
time  had  come.  We  know  but  little  of  what  passed  in  the 
Confederate  Congress  at  that  time.  Its  proceedings  were  had 
in  secret  session ;  nor  is  it  now  known  whether  the  journals 
of  the  body  escaped  destruction.  All  that  we  know  is  de- 
rived from  what  was  published  by  the  members  after  the  fall 
of  the  Confederate  Government.  Among  these  publications 
is  a  paper  contributed  by  Mr.  Oldham,  then  Senator  from 


■4   ) 

Texas,  to  Di'Pxiw's  l^cview.  in  0<'iol)i'r,  1 8()r>,  which  gives  us 
some  infonnatioii  of  tlic  proceedings  of  the  Senate  at  that 
time.  A  few  days  after  the  conference  at  Ilamjiton  Roads, 
he  informs  us,  a  committee  consisting  of  Messrs.  Orr,  Gra- 
ham and  Johnson,  was  ap[)ointed  to  confer  with  the  Presi- 
dent, and  ascertain  what  he  pro[)osed  to  do  under  the  exist- 
ing condition  of  affairs.  In  a  few  days  tliey  made  a  verbal 
report  through  Mr.  (iraham.  "Among  other  things,"  I 
quote  Mr.  Oldham's  words,  "' th^W  stated  that  they  had  in- 
quired of  the  President  his  views  and  opinions  in  regard  to 
proposing  to  the  United  States  to  negotiate  for  peace  upon 
the  basis  of  the  Confederacy  returning  to  the  Union,  and 
that  he  had  answered  that  he  had  no  power  to  negotiate  a 
treaty  upon  such  a  basis  :  that  his  authority  to  make  treaties 
was  derived  from  the  Constitution,  which  he  had  sworn  to 
support  anil  that  sucli  a  treaty  would  operate  as  an  abroga- 
tion of  the  Constitution,  and  a  dissolution  of  the  govern- 
ment ;  that  the  States  alone,  each  acting  for  itself,  in  its  | 
sovereign  capacity,  coulxl  make  such  a  treaty.  Mr.  Graham 
said,  he  gave  notice  that  he  would,  in  a  few  days,  introduce 
a  resolution  in  favor  of  opening  negotiations  with  the  United 
States  upon  the  basis  of  a  return  to  the  l^niou  by  the  States 
of  the  Confederacy  ;  that  he  did  not  give  the  notice  at  the 
instance  or  under  the  insti'uction  of  the  committee,  but  upon 
his  own  responsibility.  The  notice  was  recei\'ed  in  such  a 
manner  that  he  never  offered  his  resolution.'' 

r  never  saw  the  paper  from  which  the  foregoing  quotation 
is  made,  and  was  a  stranger  to  tliis  passage  r)f  Mr.  Graham's 
Hie  until  within  the  last  forty  days.  I  read  it  with  a  feel- 
ing of  profound  relief  T  have  ever  regarded  him  from  my 
earliest  years,  with  the  warmest  admiration  and  the  most 
affectionate  respect;  l)ut  his  faihire,  as  I  thought,  to  take 
some  action  looking  to  peace  after  the  Hampton  Roads  con- 
f<^rence — when  the  plainest  dictates  of  humanity  so  clearly 
demanded  it — left  upon  my  mind  the  painful  impression 
that  lie  had  been  wanting  to  himself  in  that,  the   most  in:- 


(40) 

portant,  crisis  of  his  life.  There  is  a  deep-seated  conviction 
that  the  blood  which  was  shed  after  that  conference  might 
have  been  saved.  Tliat  the  waste  of  the  fruits  of  past  cen- 
turies of  toil — a  waste  which  consigned  so  many  of  the 
present  and  future  generations  to  want  and  miserj^ — might 
liave  been  avoided.  It  is  with  gratitude  1  rciiect  that  not  a 
tittle  of  responsibility  for  this  Mood-shed  and  waste  lay  at 
his  door.  And  when  the  inevitable  hour  came  to  him,  I 
doubt  not  the  thought  that  he  had  done  what  he  could  to. 
arrest  a  war  attended  with  such  terrible  and  useless  sacri- 
fice, was  one  of  the  sweetest  rejections  of  his  whole  life. 

The  position  assumed  by  President  Davis,  that  he  had  no 
authority  to  mako  a  treaty  upon  the  conditions  proposed — 
since  that  would  amount  to  an  abrogation  of  the  gox'crnment 
which  he  had  sworn  to  su})port — had,  no  doubt,  a  great  influ- 
ence on  his  mind  ;  but  it  is  clear  that  it  did  not  ex|n-ess  the 
whole  case.  If  the  oath  was  binding  upon  him  to  tiiat  ex- 
tent, it  was  binding  upon  Congress  to  the  same  extent.  Such 
a  construction  abnegates  one  of  the  highest  fimctions  of  gov- 
ernment, the  power  of  peace  and  war.  It  nullifies  the 
treaty  making  power  ^  quoad  hoc,''  and  transfers  it  from  the 
council  chamber  to  the  field,  from  the  Cabinet  to  the  Gen- 
eral. And  if  that  oath  bound  him  to  hold  out  to  the  end, 
unless  the  Confederate  States  prevailed,  it  equally  bound 
General  Lee  to  continue  the  struggle  as  long  as  a  company 
could  be  brought  into  the  field.  A  surrender  by  Gen.  Lee 
was  tatamount  in  all  its  most  di'eaded  effects,  to  such  a 
treaty  by  the  President,  with  none  of  the  beneficent  results 
which  might  have  been  secured  by  treaty.  There  is  no 
principle  upon  which  a  General  is  justified  in  surrendering 
an  army  to  avoid  destruction,  which  does  not  apply  with 
tenfold  force  to  the  surrender  of  a  State  to  avoid  destruc- 
tion. Tnc  State  embraces,  beside  the  army,  all  the  helpless 
population  of  both  sexes,  and  by  so  much  the  case  is  the 
stronger. 

The  difficulties    connected   with  the  abrogation    of  the 


(47) 

Government,  especially  by  those  appointed  to  administer  it,., 
are  undeniably  great ;  but  they  cannot  be  allowed  to  be  con- 
clusive against  the  interests  of  human  life ;  such  a  theory 
cannot  be  maintained.  If  the  condition  of  things  be  such 
that  the  government  or  the  people  must  be  silcrilieed,  there- 
cannot  be  a  doubt  where  the  sacrifice  must  fall.  All  would 
8ay  that  the  government  was  made  for  the  people,  not  the 
people  for  the  government. 

The  strongest  reason  for  the  action  of  Mr.  Davis,  at  that 
time,  action  so  long  an  impenetrable  mystery,  is  now  made 
clear  from  the  most  authoritative  source.  In  a  recent  num- 
ber of  the  "  London  Fortnightly  Review,"  is  a  review,  by 
the  first  English  military  critic  of  the  age,  of  the  works  of 
General  Johnson  and  General  Sherman,  giving  the  history 
of  their  several  campaigns.  Speaking  from  information  de- 
rived from  one  '-who  was  daily  in  the  Council  chamber  at 
Richmond,"  he  says  that  during  the  latter  stages  of  the  war, 
Mr.  Davis  and  his  Cabinet  acted  under  "thoroughly  false 
views  of  the  military  situation.'"'  'The  Richmond  Cabinet 
was  perfectly  blinded,"  says  he,  "by  certain  successes  of  the 
earlier  part  of  the  war ;  and  its  military  adviser  lacked  the 
insight  or  the  honesty  to  explain  to  it,  that  the  dispropor- 
tion of  fighting  power  which  had  certainly  at  one  time  ex- 
isted, whatever  its  cause,  had  passed  away."  The  source 
from  which  this  information  was  derived  could  be  no  other 
than  a  member  of  the  Confederate  Cabinet,  for  none  other 
could  have  had  "daily  access  to  the  Council  Chamber  at 
Richmond."  This  information,  then,  is  to  be  regarded  as- 
entirely  authentic  .  and  it  is  fully  sustained  by  the  spirit  and 
tenor  of  the  speeches  made  by  :Mr.  Davis  and  Mr.  Benjamin, 
at  the  time  referred  to  above,  and  those  made  shortly  after- 
ward. The  writer  continues,  "it"— the  Cabinet  at  Rich- 
mond—"could  not  realize  the  facts  of  the  case."  \Vith  refer- 
ence to  General  Sherman  and  his  army,  he  says  :  "Sherman's 
reputation,  and  the  immense  strength  of  the  army  he  com- 
manded, were  well  known  at  that  era  even  on  this   side   of 


(48) 

tlie  Atlantic,  and  ought  not  to  have  been  ignored  at  Rich- 
mond."    Mr.  Graham  did  realize  the  facts  of  the  case.     His 
letters  ])ublished  in  "The  last  ninety  days  of  the  War,"  show 
with    what  clear  vision  he  swept  the  horizon.     Hence  his 
movement  looking   to  negotiations,    '•  to  ascertain    lor  the 
States   what  terms  would  be  3delded,  provided  they  con- 
isented  to  re-adopt  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 
«>    Congress  adjourned  about  the  16th  day  of  March.     Im- 
^^^     pressed  with  the  imminence  of  the  emergency,  Mr,  Graham 
V<^*i^istopped  but  one  da^^  at  home — that  day  being  the  Sabbath — 
"""'        iind  on  Monday  proceeded  to  Raleigh  to  confer  with  the 
Governor.     The  conference  was  long  and  earnest.     Mr.  Gra- 
liam  laid  before  the  Governor  the  views  of  the  President, 
the  state  of  the  armies,  and  earnestly  recommended  that  the 
Legislature  should  be  convened.     He  sustained  his  advice 
by    the   opinion    of  General    Leo,  and   that  of  many  good 
iind  able  men  with  whom  he  had  been  associated.     He  ended 
hy  telling  liim  that  Richmond  would  fall  in  less  than  thirty 
"days,  and  that  event  would  be  followed  probably  by  a  rout 
-or  di^persion  of  General  Lee's  army  for  want  ot  food,  if  for 
110  other  cause.     The  Governor  was  surprised  by  bis  state- 
ment of  if\cts,  and  incredulous  in  some  degree  as  to  his  con- 
vcUisions.     He  agreed  to  consider  rhe  subject,  and  convened 
the  Council  on  that  day  week.     Hearing  nothing  of  their 
action,  in  a  few   days  Mr.   Graham  visited  Raleigh  again. 
The  Governor  informed  him  that  on  the  day  appointed,  a 
bare  quorum  of  the  Council  attended,  and    being  equally 
divided,  he  had  not  summoned  the  Legislature      He  said 
that  Mr.  Gilmer,  with  whom  Mr.  Graham  had  advised  him 
to  consult,  had  suggested  to  hini  to  solicit  an  interview  with 
'General   Sherman  on  the  subject  of  peace.     Mr.   Graham 
^remarked  that  if  such  an  interview  were  held,  ^Mr.   Davis 
>should  be  apprised  of  it.     To  this  the  Governor  at   once 
.assented.     Mr,  Graham  suggested  further  that  if  that  course 
/  were  taken,  he  (the  Governor)  should  be  in  a  condition  to 
(  3ict  independently  of  the  President,  and  convene  the  Legis- 


^ 


(49) 

lature.  To  this  proposition  the  Governor  manifested  reluc- 
tance ;  but  finally  agreed  to  call  the  Council  of  State  ai^^ain. 
But  while  negotiation  halted,  the  march  of  General  Sher- 
man's army  decided  events.  In  a  few  days  no  resource  was 
left  but  an  unconditional  surrender.  With  the  part  borne 
bj'  ]Mr.  Graham  at  that  trying  time,  a  gifted  authoress  of 
]N^orth  Carolina  has  made  the  public  already  familiar  in  the 
•captivating  pages  of  her  work  :  "The  Last  Xiuetj^  Days- of 
tthe  War." 

There  is  no  part  of  Mr.  Graham's  life  in  which  the  calm 
'^visdom,  for  which  he  was  so  distinguished,  shone  more  con- 
.^picuouslj'  than  in  the  closing  months  of  the  civil  war. 
A\  hen  independence  was  demonstrated  to  be  hopeless,  he 
-ought  peace ;  but  even  then,  only  in  channels  admitted  to 
be  in  accordance  with  the  great  principles  of  our  Govern- 
ment. 

In  his  opinion,  that  peace  ought  to  be  sought  by  the  State, 
^'ifter  the  failure  of  the  conference  at  Hampton  Roads  ;  he 
was  sustained  by  our  entire  delegation  in  Congress,  and  a 
large  proportionof  the  leading  citizens  of  the  State.  Yet 
so  anxious  was  he  not  onlj'  to  avoid  any  appearance  of  con- 
flict among  the  Confederate  States,  bu-t  to  conform  to  all 
that  the  most  punctilious  deference  for  the  Confederate  Gov- 
•ernment  might  require,  that  he  did  not  move  in  the  matter  > 
rantil  after  a  conference  Avith  the  President,  and  then  only  in 
tlie  track  jiointed  out  by  him.  The  President  disclaimed  all 
|x>wcr  of  making  a  treaty,  which  would  abrogate  the  Gov- 
•ei'nment,  and  declared  that  the  "States  alone,  each  acting  in 
its  sovereign  capacity,  could  make  such  a  treaty.''  In  the 
nine  of  action  here  indicated  the  State  could  not  be  [)Ut  in  a 
false  position  ;  nay,  her  honor  would  be  put  beyond  all  cavil. 
It  was  known  that  we  had  no  power  to  arrest  General  Sher- 
anan's  march.  General  Johnson  confronted  him,  and  all  felt 
•convinced  that  whatever  his  great  military  genius  could  ac- 
•ttomplish  would  be  done.  But  it  was  also  known  that  his 
gallant  army  was  outnumbered  six  to  one.  A  surrender  in 
4 


(50) 

a  few  days  would  be  inevitalde.  Burning  capitols,  desola- 
ted homes,  famine  and  destruction  of  life,  followed  Sher- 
man's march.  Was  it  not  worth  the  ctfort  to  put  a  stop  to 
f-uch  frightful  calamities'.'  What  Mr,  Graham  urged  wa& 
that  the  people  might  he  allowed  to  determine  their  fate  for 
themselves.  Such  a  course  was  in  strict  conformity  to  the 
fundamental  principles  of  our  Government.  A  convention 
of  seven  Governors,  at  Altoona,  had  precipitated  the  war 
^vhcn  peace  counsels  seemed  so  be  in  the  ascendant.  Wa& 
not  Mr.  Graham  justified  in  the  opinion  that  executive  pow- 
ers which  had  been  so  destructively  exerted  in  the  beginning,, 
might  be  beneficently  exerted  in  the  end  ? 

In  an  address  delivered  by  (Governor  Vauce  before  the 
4^lJ^         Southern  Historical    Society,    at  AVhite    Sulphur  Springs, 
I     West  Virginia,  August  18th,   i875,  occurs  the   following: 
I  n**^      statement : 

"  ie^/A'^  "-Soon  after  the  failure  of  the  Fortress  Monroe  or  llamp- 
'^  \  ton  Roads  conference,  I  was  visited  by  Governor  Graham 
%^J^**^  (whose  death  we  so  recently  deplore)  who  was  then  a  Sena- 
tor of  the  Confederate  States.  After  giving  all  the  particu- 
lars of  that  conference  which  had  not  appeared  in  the  pa- 
pers, and  the  prevailing  impressions  of  Congressional  circles 
about  Richmond,  &c.,  he  informed  me  that  a  number  of 
leading  gentlemen  there,  despairing  of  obtaining  peace 
throuWi  Mr.  Davis,  and  believing  the  end  inevitable  and 
not  distant,  had  requested  him  to  visit  me  and  urge  me,  as 
Governor  of  Xorth  Carolina,  to  take  steps  for  making  sepa- 
rate peace  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  thus  inaugurate  the  con- 
clusion ;  that  he  agreed  to  lay  their  rerpiest  before  me  Avith- 
out  promising  to  add  his  personal  advice  thereto.  I  asked 
Avho  those  gentlemen  were,  and,  with  some  reluctance,  he 
crave  me  their  names,  chietly  Senators  and  Representatives 
in  the  Confederate  Congress.  I  asked  why  these  gentlemen 
did  not  begin  negotiations  in  their  own  States  with  the 
enemy,  and  if  they  would  come  out  in  the  papers  with  this 
lequest  to  me.     He  said  they  could  not  take  the  initiative. 


(51) 

they  were  so  surrounded  at  home,  and  so  trannneled  by  pledg- 
es, &c.,  as  to  render  it  impossible  1  I  declined  the  proposi- 
tion of  course."  I      '^  { 

It  is  with  reluctance  that  I  advert  to  this  statement.  Had  H  ■ 
it  been  given  to  the  press  with  a  sponsor  less  entitled  to  con-  ^  .    ^  ' 
aideration,  I  should  have  been  disposed  to  let  it  float  with  \N^ 
the   tide.     But  it   presents  itself  under  imposing  circum- 
stances ;  it  proceeds  from  one  who,  at  the  time  referred  to, 
was  at  the  head  of  the  government  in  is'orth  Carolina  ;  it  is 
contained  in  an  address  made  before  a  societj^  whose  object 
it  is  to  preserve  the  memorials  of  that  time.     The  statement 
thus   passes  into  histor3\     It  will  not  be  waived.     It  per- 
emptorily challenges  attention. 

The  address  had  for  its  object  the  vindication  oi'  'North 
Carolina,  and  the  vindication  was  complete  ujx)!!  liie  facts- 
and  figures  presented.  It  was  made  in  reply  n(»t  to  any 
recent  strictures  upon  the  State,  but  to  strictures  made  dur- 
ing the  war.  Ten  years  bad  elapsed  from  the  end  of  tho 
war  to  the  date  of  that  address  But  the  Matement  was  made 
not  in  the  way  of  vindication,  but  in  the  way  of  recrimina- 
tion, and  Mr.  Graham's  name  was  used  as  the  instrument  of 
recrimination,  ]^ow  it  will  be  regretted  hy  all  who  love 
the  State,  and  the  fair  fame  of  her  statcsnicu,  which  form* 
her  highest  glory,  that  such  a  use  ot  his  naujc  was  not  made 
till  the  grave  had  closed  upon  him,  and  his  voice  was  mute 
forever. 

Had  this  statement  been  delayed  to  make  avail  of  facts 
which  came  to  light  afterwards,  the'cause  of  the  delay  would 
he  apparent;  but  every  fact  used  in  defence  of  the  State  was 
as  available  at  any  time  during  those  ten  j'ears  as  it  was  on 
the  18th  of  August  when  the  address  Avas  delivered.  The 
effect  of  that  statement  was,  in  the  judgment  of  a  laro-e  Dor- 
tion  of  our  people,  to  put  Mr.  Graham  and  the  Senators  and' 
Representatives  alluded  to,  m  false  relations  to  the  Confed- 
erate Government.  It  excited  a  deep  feeling  in  this  State 
and    called    out   acrimonious   coirmients  from  the  Southern, 


(52) 

Press.  Governor  Yanee  perceived  at  once  tlie  light  in  which 
it  would  be  regarded.  Ilis  language  is  emphatic,  "I  de- 
clined the  proposition  of  course" 

There  are  some  reflections  Avhich  arise,  spoiitaneously,  in 
the  mind  of  every  one  who  reads  this  statement,  and  who 
was  acquainted  with  YxW  Graham. 

According  to  this  statement,  Mr.  Graham  came  charged 
with  a  momentous  proposition  from  parties  whose  names,  at 
first,  he  did  not  disclose.  It  will  he  admitted  by  all  that  it 
would  be  hard  to  conceive  a  situation  more  at  variance  with 
the  tenor  of  his  life  than  that  in  which  this  statement  places 
him.  He  was  a  man  of  a  loft}-,  fearless  and  commanding 
spirit.  In  action  he  was  one  of  the  most  independent  of 
men.  He  opposed  secession  when  fealty  to  the  South  was 
measured  by  zeal  for  that  doctrine.  He  opposed  the  extreme 
measures  of  the  Confederate  Government  wlieu  the  teniper 
of  the  times  scarcel}'.  tolerated  an}-  dissent.  He  opposed  the 
Johnson  Constitution  ;  he  opposed  the  Reconstruction  Con- 
stitution. In  the  latter  instances  he  brought  himself  into 
conflict  with  tho.-c  who  wielded  the  powers  of  the  Federal 
Government,  and  that  too  when  he  was  already  under  the 
ban  of  that  CJovernmerit,  He  had  a  just  sense  of  his  own 
dignity.  He  had  a  just  sense  of  his  own  weight  in  the 
country.  His  conduct  had  always  been  so  high  and  clear 
that  never,  during  a  life  of  three  score  years  and  ten,  was  he 
once  called  upon  for  an  explanation.  Xot  a  single  lineament 
of  his  character  do  avo  recognize  in  the  bearer  of  such  a 
proposition  from  nameless  men. 

We  are  told  that,  though  the  bearer  of  the  proposition,  lie 
refused  or  declined  to  express  any  opinion  in  regard  to  it. 
This  reticence  is  unaccountable.  On  public  aifairs  ISIr.  Gra- 
ham had  no  concealments.  His  opinions  as  a  private  man 
could  he  known  by  all  who  sought  them  ;  as  a  public  man  he 
never  hesitated  to  proclaim  them.  There  was  no  feature  of 
Lis  character  which  impressed  his  opponents  more  than  this. 


(53) 

A  di.stiiiguisljed  rtepublicau,"  who  know  liim  well,  gave  it 
as  one  of  his  most  characteristic  traits,  that  "he  had  emin- 
ently the  courage  of  his  opinions."  Would  such  a  one  with- 
hold his  opinions  when  the  fate  of  his  country  hung  in  the 
balance,  and  when  the  high  position  which  he  occapied 
made  it  his  duty  to  express  them  ? 

The  alleged  proposition  involved  the  destruction  of  the 
Confederate  Government,  and  the  transfer  of  the  allegiance 
of  its  citizens  to  the  Federal  Government.  Could  he  have 
so  entirely  lost  that  political  sagacity,  which  made  him  a 
light  and  a  guide  to  the  generation  in  which  he  lived,  as  to 
suppose  snch  a  proposition  would  be  listened  to,  coming 
from  nameless  men  ?  If  such  a  course  had  been  necessary 
to  escape  ruin,  otherwise  inevitable,  it  could  only  have  been 
taken  by  the  concerted  action  of  those  Vv'ho  were  strongest 
in  the  confidence  of  the  country.  That,  no  one  knew  better 
than  he.  Further,  he  knew  that  to  secure  for  the  proposi- 
tion a  favorable  hearing,  it  must  appear  that  it  vras  a  move- 
ment which  enlisted  able  and  patriotic  men.  To  suppress 
their  names,  then,  argues  a  degree  of  simplicity  which  -would 
be  unaccountable  in  the  weakest  of  men,  and  seems  impos- 
sible in  one  of  the  strongest.  n 

Mr.  Graham   has  left  on  record,  m  a  letter  to  GovernorU^- 
Swain,  a  full  and  minute  account  of  this  interview.     That 
it  was  the  same  is  proven  by  reference  to  the  time.     Gover-  |]^t' 
nor  Vance  says  it  was  after  the  Hampton  Roads  Conference.     ■  — 
Mr.  Graham,  as  we  have  seen,  reached  home  from  Richmond 
on  the  19th  of  March,  and  went  to  Raleigh  on  Monday  the 
20th.     It  is  proved  to  be  the  same  by  the  identity  of  topics 
discussed  or  referred  to,  as  far  as  those  topics  are  alluded  to 
by  Governor  Vance.     It  is  proven  by  the  identity  of  words, 
one  of  them  used,  not  in  its  plain  and  obvious,  but  in  its 
remote  and  secondary  sense. 

The   letter  and    the   circumstances  under   which   it  was 
written  thus  become  of  interest.     On  Saturday,  the  Sth  of 

*  Hon    S.  R  Phiir.p.S. 


(54) 

J^pril,  Governor  Swain  wrote  to  Mr.   Graham  urging  that 
lie  would  sfo  with  him  to  Raleigh  to  confer  with  Governor 
"Vance  upon  the  state  of  public  affairs.    lie  i)ictured  in  strong 
•colors  the  imminence  of  the  dangers  which  beset  the  country. 
He  told  him  that  the  State  looked  to  none  of  its  citizens  for 
<;ounsel  and  guidance  as  it  did  to  him.     He  told  him  the 
Governor  would  give  as  favorable  consideration  to  his  sug- 
gestions as  he  would  yield  to  an}'  citizen  or  functionary  in 
the  Confederacy.     To  this  letter  Mr.  Graham  replied  on  the 
same  day  at  considerable  length.     He  wrote  that  he  left 
Richmond  thoroughly  convinced :    1st.   That  independence 
for  the  Southern  Confederacy  was  perfectly  hopeless.     2d. 
That  through  the  administration  of  Mr.  Davis  Ave  could  ex- 
pect no   peace.     3rd.   That    the   State  Government  should 
make  a  movement  in  behalf  of  peace.     He  then  proceeded  to 
sive  in  detail  what  had  occurred  on  the  occasion  of  his  visit 
to  Governor  Yance.     This  account  was  written  for  the  pur- 
pose of  putting  Governor  Swain  in  possession  of  what  had 
|)assed,  no  doubt  Avith  the  expectation  that  it  would  be  used 
b}'  him  in  the  interview  with  Governor  A'ance,  and  also  to 
shoAv  how  frankly  he  had  expressed  his  views  upon  the  state 
of  the  country.     On  the  ]Monday  following,  Governor  Swain 
went  to  Raleigh,  and  the  conference  between  him  and  Gov. 
Vance  was  long  and  full.     It  may,  I  think,  be  assumed  as 
certain,  from  the  importance  attached  by  Governor  Swain  to 
the  opinions  of  ^Ir.  Graham,  and  from  the  weight  which  he 
thought  those  opinions  would  have  Avith  Governor  Vance, 
that  the  contents  of  that  letter  Avere  made  knoAvn  to  GoA'er- 
nor  Vance,  and  formed  the  basis  of  their  conference.     An 
account  of  the  intervicAv  Avas  furnished  by  Governor  SAvain 
to  the  author  of  "  The  Last  Ninety  Days,'"  together  Avith  the 
letter  in  question.     The  inference   is  clear  that  Governor 
SAvain  understood  that  letter  as  containing  a  true  narrative 
of  Avhat  passed  betAveen  Mr.  Graham  and  Governor  Vance. 
Further,  the  "  Ninety  Days"  has  been  for  years  before  the 
world,  and  the  correctness  of  that  narrative  has  been  un- 


(55) 

•challenged.  That  narrative  has  thus  the  direct  sanction  of 
Oovernor  Swain,  and  by  acquiescence  during  Mr.  Graham's 
life,  it  has  the  sanction  also  of  Governor  Vance. 

Xow  compare  the  narrative  and  note  the  dilference.  In 
Ixovernor  Vance's  version,  Mr.  Graham  comes  to  him  from 
third  persons,  whose  names  were  not  disclosed  ;  in  Mr.  Gra- 
ham's, he  went  unprompted  by  anybody  ;  unprompted  save 
by  his  own  high  sense  of  duty.  In  Governor  Vance's  ver- 
rsion,  he  came  the  bearer  of  a  proposition  from  others ;  in 
Mr.  Graham's,  he  went  to  submit  his  own  views.  In  Gover- 
nor Vance's  version,  the  proposition  is  to  "  make  separate 
terms  with  Mr.  Lincoln ;"  in  Mr.  Graham's,  to  call  the 
Assembl}'.  In  Governor  Vance's  version,  he  withholds  his 
advice  ;  in  Mr.  Graham's,  he  went  for  no  other  purpose  than 
to  give  his  advice,  and  did  give  it  at  length.  The  only 
reference  in  Mr.  Graham's  narrative  to  any  third  person  is 
'ivhen  he  reinforces  his  advice  by  the  opinion  of  General  Lee, 
.and  by  the  opinions  of  those  considered  by  him  as  the  wisest 
and  best  men  with  whom  he  had  conver.^ed.  It  is  absolute!}^ 
certain  that  what  is  alleged  in  the  "statement"  as  having 
■occurred,- did  not  happen  before  the  20tli  of  March,  because, 
between  the  Hampton  lioads  Conference  and  that  time,  Mr. 
■Oraham  had  not  been  in  Raleigh.  It  is  morally  certain  that 
it  did  not  occur  after  that  time  ;  because  if  Governor  Vance 
rejected  Mr.  Graham's  advice  to  call  the  Legislature,  and 
thus  allow  the  representatives  of  the  people  to  decide  their 
•own  fate,  the  latter  would  not  have  submitted  a  proposition 
that  the  Governor  should,  at  the  instance  of  nameless  men, 
decide  their  fate  for  them.  Whence,  then,  the  irreconcilable 
'discrepancy  between  the  two  versions  ?  The  explanation 
lies  in  the  fact  that  JVIr.  Graham's  narrative  was  penned  a 
short  time  after  the  interview  occurred,  when  the  facts  were 
fresh  in  his  mind  ;  while  Governor  Vance's  was  not  written 
until  over  ten  years  had  passed  away. 

In  a  note  appended  to  the  address,  in  the  November  num- 
■ber  of  Our  Living  and   Our  Dead,  Governor  Vance  says: 


(56) 

"  Since  the  synopsis  of  this  was  published  I  have  received  a 
letter  from  an  esteemed  friend  in  Hillsboro,  who  says  he  had 
a  conversation  with  Governor  Graham  on  the  same  subject^ 
and  that  his  recollection  is  that  the  proposition  made  to  me 
Avas,  that  I  should  take  steps  to  withdraw  the  J^orth  Caro_ 
Una  troops  from  General  Lee's  army,  which  would  force  him 
to  surrender  and  thus  end  the  war.  It  may  be  that  my 
friend's  recollection  is  correct." 

The  inference  of  the  reader  of  this  note  would  be  that  the 
letter  from  Hillsboro  sustains  Governor  Vance's  recollection 
in  every  particular,  except  the  manner  in  which  peace  was 
to  be  brought  about ;  the  writer's  understanding  being,  that 
it  was  to  be  accomplished  by  Avithdrawing  our  troops.  I 
subjoin  the  clause  of  the  letter  of  which  the  "  note"  is  in- 
tended as  a  summary.  The  author  of  the  letter,  in  writing- 
to  Governor  Vance  about  the  statement  in  the  White  Sul- 
phur Springs  address,  says  :  "  You  state  that  the  purpose  of 
persons  whose  message  Governor  Graham  delivered  to  you 
was  to  make  'separate  terms  wdth  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  thus- 
inaugurate  the  conclusion.'  This  announcement  surprised 
me,  because  Governor  Graham  stated  the  same  thing  to  me, 
and  I  understood  the  purpose  to  be  that  I^ortli  Carolina 
should  withdraw^  her  troops  from  General  Lee's  army,  and 
thus  compel  a  surrender  and  end  the  war." 

The  letter  midoubtedly  bears  the  construction  put  upon  it 
by  Governor  Vance ;  nay,  I  think  it  is  the  most  obvious- 
construction  ;  yet  nothing  was  further  from  the  intention  of 
the  writer.  Tire  single  point  intended  to  be  made  by  the 
writer,  as  is  shown  in  a  subsequent  letter,  was  as  to  "  sepa- 
rate terms."  It  was  to  the  alleged  proposition  looking  to 
"  separate  terms"  that  he  alluded  when  he  wrote,  this  an- 
nouncement '•'  surprised  me."  Mr.  Graham's  position  in 
regard  to  peace  was  known  to  him,  and  it  was  to  Mr.  Gra- 
ham's purpose  to  inaugurate  a  movement  in  favor  of  peace 
that  he  alluded  when  he  wrote,  "  JSIr.  Graham  stated  the 
same  thino;  to  me-"     The  writer  of  the  letter  alluded  to  in 


(57) 

the  "  note"  had  no  thought  either  of  confirming  or  contro- 
verting Governor  Vance's  recollection  of  what  transpired  at 
the  interview  between  him  and  Mr.  Graham,  because  he 
had  not  heard  from  ]N[r.  Graham  that  he  had  any  interview 
with  Governor  Vance.  In  the  subserjuent  letter,  just  refer- 
red to,  he  says,  "Mr.  Graham  made  no  mention" — i.  e.  in  the 
conversation  alluded  to — "of  his  having  been  charged  with 
any  message  or  communication  to  Governor  Vance  about 
ending  the  war ;  indeed,  he  made  no  mention  of  his  having 
had  any  interview  with  Governor  Vance  on  the  subject." 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  writer  of  the  letter  to  Gover- 
nor Vance,  in  speaking  of  withdrawing  our  troops,  says 
nothing  of  any  communication  made  by  Mr.  Graham  of  such 
a  purpose  ;  his  language  is  ''I  understood  the  purpose  to  be ;" 
it  was  a  conclusion  of  the  writer,  deduced  from  what  he 
heard  around  him. 

It  is  very  apparent  that  this  letter  was  thrown  off  in  great 
haste,  and  without  a  moment's  thought  as  to  the  construc- 
tion, which  might  be  put  upon  it.  Hence  the  erroneous  im- 
plication conveyed,  and  hence  the  erroneous  construction  ot 
Governor  Vance. 

That  letter  changed  the  opinion  of  Governor  Vance,  and 
left  him  in  doubt  as  to  what  was  the  proposition  submitted. 
"It  may  be,"  says  he,  "that  my  friend's  recollection  is  cor- 
rect." Upon  this  point,  no  doubt,  I  think,  can  exist,  if  we 
refer  to  Mr.  Graham's  recorded  opinions.  In  his  letters, 
given  at  length  in  the  "ISTinety  Days,"  he  lays  open  all  his 
thoughts  without  reserve  to  his  life-long  friend,  Governor 
Swain.  In  them  is  to  be  found  no  hint  of  any  other  meas- 
ure than  that  of  callino'  the  Leii'islature  and  allowing  the 
people  to  consult  together  for  their  common  safety  in  this 
unparalleled  strait.  These  letters  show  further  that  he  nev- 
er contemplated  separate  action  by  the  State  of  North  Caro- 
lina. "^ 

After  the  Hampton  Roads  Conference  he  had  no  longer 
any  hope  of  a  peaceful  solution  through  the  action  of  Presi- 


(58) 

dent  Davis ;  from  thenceforth  he  turned  his  thoughts  to  the 
accomplishment  of  the  same  end  through  the  action  of  the 
States.  The  subject  is  often  recurred  to,  but  not  an  intima- 
tion can  be  found  of  any  plan,  except  that  of  the  States  act- 
ing in  conjunction.  Very  soon  united  action  on  the  part  of 
all  became  an  impossibility  ;  conquering  armies  had  dismem- 
bered the  Confederacy — had  left  indeed  but  two  States  that 
could  act  in  concert.  But  his  plan  still  embraced  these  two. 
March  256th,  he  writes  as  follows  t-o  Governor  Swain :  "I 
went  to  Raleigh  to  have  an  interview  Avith  the  Governor  on 
the  subject  matter  referred  to  in  your  letter.  The  result 
Avas  a  convocation  of  the  Council  of  State  to  assemble  to- 
morrow. The  Legislature  of  Virginia  has  taken  a  recess 
until  the  29th  instant,  and  I  think  it  very  important  that 
that  of  North  Carolina  should  be  in  session  as  early  as  pos- 
sible. The  war  is  now  nearly  reduced  to  a  contest  between 
these  two  States  and  the  United  States  1"  In  his  letter  of 
the  8th  of  April,  which  contains,  as  I  think  has  been  shown, 
the  true  account  of  the  interview  between  Mr.  Graham  and 
Governor  Vance,  Mr.  Graham  says  :  "I  told  him  I  should 
attend  the  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  and,  if  desired, 
would  address  them  in  secret  session ;  that  I  had  confiden- 
tial conversations  with  a  committee  of  the  Virginia  Legis- 
lature, which  had  taken  a  recess  for  ten  days,  and  that  it 
was  important  to  act  in  concert  with  that  bod}*."' 

The  surrender  left  the  State  under  the  control  of  the  Fed- 
eral Generals  and  under  the  military  law.  According  to 
the  theory  of  the  Administration,  all  civil  government  had 
ceased  ;  all  the  offices  were  vacant.  The  government,  for  a 
time,  was  such  as  a  conquering  army  administers  in  a  sub- 
jugated country.  At  length  to  inaugurate  a  civil  govern- 
ment, the  precedent  for  the  admission  of  territories  was  par- 
tially adopted.  A  provisional  Governor  was  appointed  with 
power  to  call  a  convention.  In  execution  of  his  powers  the 
Governor  appointed  to  the  vacant  offices  and  issued  a  call 
for  a  convention.     Mr.  Graham  was  nominated  for  the  Con- 


/i, 


V^T      A<^   CC<3^    A 


(59) 

ventioii ;  but  it  being  annonnced  by  the  executive,  that  per- 
sons unpardoned  would  not  be  allowed  to  take  their  seats, 
lie  Avithdrew  from  the  canvass. 

A  Constitution — the  old  Constitution  with  some  altera- 
tions— was  adopted.  My.  Graham  opposed  its  ratification. 
From  his  action  at  this  time  m.any  of  his  best  friends  dis- 
sented. They  admitted  with  him  that  a  convention  called, 
not  by  the  people,  but  by  a  power  ab  extra  and  under  limita- 
tions of  suttVage  unknown  to  the  Constitution,  was  an  ano- 
maly in  American  institutions.  But  certain  changes  were 
regarded  as  inevitable  after  the  war,  and  if  the  Administra- 
tion, then  wielding  supreme  power  over  us,  should  rest  sat- 
isfied with  the  changes  thus  made,  it  was  conceived  by  them 
to  be  the  wiser  course  to  raise  no  question  as  to  the  manner 
in  which  the  Convention  was  called.  But  in  Mr.  Graham's 
view  many  of  the  ablest  men  in  the  State  concurred,  and 
the  Constitution  was  defeated.  Certainly  it  seems  more  in 
accordance  with  the  spirit  of  a  great  patriot  to  make  con- 
tinual claim,  even  if  inelFectual,  in  behalf  of  the  principles 
of  government  established  b}^  our  fathers.  Any  mitigation 
which  an  abandonment  of  those  principles  might  have  ob- 
tained would  have  been  but  temporary  ;  the  principles  them-  .,  p 
selves  were  for  all  time.                                                                            "\V^ 

The  Eeconstruction  measures  were  now  passed.  The  for-  Kr^'^ 
mer  government  was  swept  away.  The  whole  power  over 
the  question  of  suffrage,  that  question  Avhich  lies  at  the 
foundation  of  all  representative  government,  and  which  un- 
der the  old  Constitution  belonged  to  the  States,  save  that 
Congress  might  pass  unform  naturalization  laws,  was  as- 
sumed and  exercised  by  Congress.  Suffrage  was  adjusted 
upon  a  new  basis  ;  all  the  black  race  was  enfranchised,  and 
a  large  portion  of  the  white  race  was  disfranchised.  Under 
this  adjustment,  a  new  convention  was  called,  and  a  new 
constitution  adopted,  the  constitution  under  which  Ave  now  ^ 

These  measures,  so  extreme  in  their  nature,  were  regard-   'J''"  ^ 


..«*^ 


(60) 

ed  while  they  were  jct  in  progress  by  a  large  part  of  our 
people  witli  a  feeling  little  short  of  consternation.  The  Gov- 
erment  seemed  wholly  changed;  the  Constitution  irrevocablj- 
wreuched,  if  not  destroyed.  A  profound  apathy  fell  upon 
the  niinds  of  the  people.  A  vast  number  ceased  to  take  any 
cognizance  of  public  affairs.  They  seemed  to  regard  them, 
as  removed  forever  beyond  their  control.  In  this  state  of 
things  a  convention  of  the  conservative  party  of  Xorth  Caro- 
lina was  called.  It  met  on  the  5th  of  February,  I8G8,  in 
Tucker  Hall,  in  the  city  of  Ealeigh,  and  was  presided  over 
by  Mr.  Graham. 

Upon  taking  the  chair  he  spoke  at  length  upon  the  state 
of  the  country.  The  scope  of  that  speech  is  summed  up  in 
the  conclusion  which  I  give  in  his  own  words  :  "I  have  de- 
tained you  thus  long,  but  to  be  brief  and  state  our  case  as  it  is, 
against  the  thou.sand  misrepresentations  with  which  the  ear 
of  authority  is  vexed,  for  the  consideration  of  yourselves,  of 
our  own  people,  'of  our  fellow-citizens  of  the  i^orth  and  West, 
and  the  calm  judgment  of  the  world  at  large."  It  was  thus 
a  broad  appeal  to  the  judgment  of  mankind,  embracing  in 
its  ample  verge  all  the  issues  evolved  by  our  situation  ;  and 
I  think  whatever  may  be  the  party  affinities  of  men  at  this 
da}^  all  will  allow  that  it  was  worthy  such  an  audience.  He 
placed  himself  at  the  very  start  upon  the  highest  ground  by 
showing  that  the  struggle  in  Avhich  the  party  there  repre- 
sented was  then  engaged,  w^as  not  the  offspring  of  resent- 
ment or  contnmac}',  but  only  for  the  preservation  of  the 
rights  of  American  citizens.  A  few  strong  sentences  suffice 
to  paint  the  condition  of  the  Southern  count rj^  at  the  close 
of  the  war.  lie  refers  in  eloquent  terms  to  the  civil  vmVy 
and  to  the  profound  submission  then,  three  years  after  its 
termination,  everywhere  manifested  to  the  authority  of  the 
United  States.  lie  refers  to  the  Eeconstruction  measures 
and  sharply  presents  the  spirit  of  those  measures.  He  con- 
trasts the  spirit  of  English  statesmanship  at  the  era  of  the 
Restoration,  an  era- analagous  to  our  own  after  the  eonclu- 


(01) 

sioii  of  the  war.     lie  showed  that  the  evils  under  which  we 
were  hiboring  were  the  result  of  political  enthusiasm.     He 
dwelt  upon  the  truth  im})resscd  hy  the  great  historian  of  the 
Ke^toration,  the  feebleness  of  reason  to  op[)Ose  this  passion, 
whether  in  religion    or  politics,  and  that  there  is  but  one 
safeguard  against  its  fatal  consequences,  "iu  religion,  never 
to  lose  sight  of  morality  ;  in  political  speculation,  never  to 
depart  from  the  forms  and  maxims  of  the  Constitution."'  By 
the  forms  and  maxims  of  the  American  Constitution,  and 
by  the  precedents  of  our  own  history  at  its  best  cnis,  and 
under  our  Presidents  the  most  renowned  in  peace  and  war, 
lie   proceeded    to  test    the   Reconstruction   measures.     The 
framers  of  those  measures  admitted  that  the}"  were  "outside 
of  the    Constitution."      Mr.    Graham    demonstrated    with 
l)oundless  wealth  of  learniiio;,  and  with  resistless  loo;ie,  that 
they  were  in  conflict  A^•ith  the  Constitution  and  with  the 
spirit  of  American  liberty.     There  are  many  who  differed  in 
opinion  from  him  upon  the  topics  proper  to  be  discussed, 
and  tlie  course  of  action  recommended  by  him  on  tliat  occa- 
sion ;  but,  I  think,  even  the_y  would  allow  that,  as  he  spoke 
that  day  on  the  great  doctrines  of  civil  libert}-,  so  Somers 
and  Camden  would  have  spoken;  and  that  the  constitutional 
doctrines  which  he  then  laid  down  v/onld  have  received  the 
sanction  of  ^Madison  and  of  ]\farshall.     I  have  read  that 
speech  recently  and  with  care.     I  was  irapresseil  anew  witli 
its  wide  range,  and  its  deep  and  mature  learning  ;  with  the 
skill  with  which  the  topics  are  arranged  and  discussed  ;  with 
the  admirable  temper  ^^•hich  he  preserves  on  the  most  excit- 
ing subjects  ;  with  his  familiarity  vrith  the  wi'itingsof  politi- 
cal sages,  whose  weighty  apothegms  are  scattered  through 
it:  with  the  high  finish  of  certain  passages  ;  but   above  all 
with  the  dauntless  spirit  with  which  he  maintains  what,  in 
his  judgment,  are  the  true  principles  of  our  Government. 

The  elfect  of  this  speech  cannot  be  estimated.  It  aroused 
the  people  from  their  despondency  ;  it  animated  them  to  new 
efforts  ;  it  went  further,  it  infused  into  them  the  spirit  with 


(0-i) 

which  the  speech  itself  was  instinct.  From  that  day  the 
Conservative-Democratic  party  dates  its  existence  in  this- 
State  as  a  regularly  organized  party  ;  within  a  short  time 
thereafter  it  gained  possession  of  the  Legislature  and  has 
held  it  to  the  present  time. 

The  Convention  of  1865  had  directed  that  the  Legislature 
should  he  convened.  An  election  was  accordingly  held  and 
the  Legislature  met  in  the  winter  of  that  year.  Mr.  Gra- 
ham was  unanimoush'  elected  for  the  county  of  Orange,  but, 
being  unpardoned  he  did  not  otter  to  take  his  seat.  It  was 
the  universal  desire  of  the  people  that  he  should  represent 
the  State  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  when  restored 
to  its  old  relations.  It  Avas  felt  that  Xorth  Carolina  had  no 
one  more  competent  to  vindicate  her  action  or  represent  her 
interests.  It  was  felt  that  she  had  no  one  who,  by  his- 
bahmced  judgment,  his  temperance  of  feeling,  his  urbane 
bearinsr,  would  do. more  to  mitigate  the  asperities  which  had 
been  provoked  by  civil  strife.  He  was  elected  by  a  large 
majority.  Upon  his  election  he  repaired  to  Washington  and 
presented  his  credentials.  They  were  laid  upon  the  table. 
lie  ]»resented  to  the  Senate  a  manly  and  respectful  memoi-ial; 
but  he  was  never  permitted  to  take  his  seat.  The  spectacle 
presented  l!»y  the  exclusion  from  public  aftairs  of  a  man  of 
his  antecedents,  while  so  man\^  who  had  an  active  agency  iu 
bringino-  on  civil  strife  had  been  promoted  to  high  station,, 
arrested  attention  everywhere,  Many  of  the  most  eminent 
men  in  the  Northern  States  used  their  best  eftbrts  for  the 
removal  of  his  disabilities,  without  eft'ect.  Political  perse- 
cution, set  on  foot  l)y  parties  in  his  own  State,  pursued  him 
until  it  was  placed  beyond  all  human  probability  that  he 
should  ever  enjoy  the  honors  for  Avhich  the  State  had  des- 
tined him.  When  that  had  become  a  certainty,  to-wit,  iu 
1873,  his  disabilities  were  removed.  What  reflections  arise, 
as  we  recur  to  this  passage  of  his  life  I  Mr.  Graham  had 
clung  to  the  Constitution  until  the  rising  tide  of  secession 
had  llowed  around  and  completely  insulated    his  State  ;   to 


(63) 

this  ancient  ark  of  our  fathers  he  again  ckmg  when  after  the- 
war  the  waves  of  political  enthusiasm  inundated  the  coun- 
try and  the  Constitution.  Yet  he  was  left  stranded,  while 
many  of  those  who  had  fanned  the  tempests  of  both  found 
secure  anchorage.  But  we  look  beyond  to-da3\  The  things 
seen  are  temporal  in  more  senses  than  one.  The  impartial 
tribunal  of  posterity  rise  up  before  us.  Then,  when  the 
actors  of  to-day  are  weighed  in  even  scales ;  Avhen  the  influ- 
ence of  passion  and  prejudice  is  unknown,  then  will  the  con- 
sistent devotion  to  principle,  by  which  his  conduct  was- 
always  actuated,  receive  its  due  meed  of  admiration  and 
applause. 

The  State  of  Xortli  Carolina  was,  in  1870,  the  scene  of 
events  without  parallel  in  American  histor3\  The  recon- 
structed government  had  then  been  in  existence  for  two 
years  ;  and  though  it  introduced  many  changes  in  the  organ- 
ic law,  changes  repugnant  to  the  great  body  of  the  people,, 
it  was  now  in  quiet  operation.  Its  authority  was  every- 
where acknowledged  ;  submission  to  it  was  universal.  In 
the  counties  of  Alamance  and  Caswell  acts  of  lawlessness, 
startling  and  exceptional,  had  occurred  ;  but  they  nowhere 
took  the  form  of  resistance  to  law  ;  they  rather  indicated 
the  temper  of  a  people  driven  to  phrenzy  by  actual  or  an- 
ticipated outrage.  These  acts  were  deeply  deplored  by  all 
thoughtful  men,  who  earnestly  exerted  themselves  t®  put  an 
end  to  them.  At  length,  by  their  efforts,  seconded  by  the 
presence  of  a  company  of  United  States  troops  in  each  of 
those  counties,  order  and  quiet  were  restored.  It  was  now 
that  the  Governor,  under  authoritj-  of  an  act  passed  at  the- 
previous  Legislature,  declared  by  proclamation  these  coun- 
ties in  a  state  of  insurrection,  lie  then  proceeded  to  levy 
troops,  wdiich,  when  raised,  were  marched  into  those  coun- 
ties. Here  arrests  were  made  of  leading  citizens,  without 
charge  and  without  process.  When  arrested  most  of  them 
were  held  in  strict  confinement ;  some  were  thrown  into  close 
jjrison.     In  some  instances  torture  was  resorted  to,  to  extort 


(C4, 

accusation  against  themselves.  To  crown  all,  measures  were 
being  taken  to  organize  courts-martial  for  the  trial  of  the 
citizens  tlius  arrested.  To  put  a  stop  to  proceedings  so  un- 
exampled recourse  was  had  to  that  great  birthright  of  Eng- 
lish speaking  people,  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  Applica- 
tion for  tlie  writ  was  made  to  the  Chief  Justice,  who  prompt- 
ly ordered  the  writ  to  be  issued;  but  owing  to  the  action  of 
the  Governor  the  benefit  of  the  writ  could  not  be  obtahied. 
A  number  of  motions  was  submitted  by  the  counsel  for  the 
prisoners,  but  each  in  turn  proved  nugatory.  Finally  a  mo- 
tion was  made  for  a  precept  to  be  directed  to  the  Sherilf — 
the  precept  to  be  executed  by  the  power  of  the  county. 
This  the  Chief  Justice  declined  to  grant,  stating  that  in  the 
then  condition  of  things  such  a  proceeding  "would  phmge 
the  country  into  civil  war."' 

Hopeless  now  of  obtaining  an^'  relief  from  the  courts  of 
the  State  recourse  was  had  to  tlie  courts  of  the  United 
States.  A  petition  for  redress  was  made  to  His  Honor 
Judge  Brooks  of  the  District  Court.  The  question  of  juris- 
diction was  argued  by  ]Mr.  Graham,  and  other  eminent  coun- 
sel. Ihe  Judge,  at  length,  ordered  the  writ  to  l)e  issued. 
The  prisoners  were  brought  up,  and  after  the  hearing  were 
discharged.  It  may  be  safeh'  said  tliat  nothing  has  occurred 
since  the  war  which  did  more  to  rekindle  the  aflections  of 
the  people  of  Is^ortli  Carolina  toward  the  Government  of 
their  fathers  than  the  action  of  Judge  Brooksin  these  cases. 

The  events  thus  briefly  referred  to  occurred  in  the  midst 
of  a  profound  peace.  The  Courts  held  their  regular  sessions 
at  the  appointed  times  in  the  counties  of  Alamance  and 
Caswell ;  and  the  processes  of  law  ran  unobstructed  to  every 
part  of  those  counties.  Political  proscription,  there  was 
none.  The  party  of  which  the  Governor  was  the  head  held 
undisputed  sway  in  those  counties.  The  negroes  voted  at 
pleasure  for  the  object  of  their  choice.  The  public  mind 
was  profoundly  moved  by  these  proceedings.  The  sense  of 
injury  was  deep  ;  yet  tliere  was  no  open  resistance — no  tu- 


(65) 

luultuary  a^isembkiges,  Tlie  inborn  reverence  for  law,  which 
has  prevailed  in  this  State  since  the  Revolution — iince  the 
adoption  ot*  popular  institutions — every  where  asserted  itself. 
The  people  waited  to  see  what  course  two  or  three  eminent 
citizens,  who  had  been  honored  and  trusted  by  them,  would 
advise  at  this  crisis.  To  Mr.  Graham  first  and  foremost 
they  instinctively  turned,  lie  advised  a  resort  to  none  but 
constitutional  remedies— first,  an  appeal  t3  the  people  at  the 
ballot-box;  secondly,  an  arraignment  of  the  Executive  at  the 
bar  of  the  [teople.  The  success  of  such  an  appeal  he  did  not 
doubt.  No  statesman  ever  reposed  greater  confidence  in  the 
capacity  and  patriotism  of  the  people.  The  result  vindica- 
ted his  judgment.  The  canvass  of  that  summer  turned  upon 
the  usurpations  and  high-handed  proceedings  of  the  Gover- 
nor. .  The  election  resulted  in  the  return  to  the  Legislature 
of  a  majority  of  two-thirds  of  the  Conservative-Democratic 
party. 

The  adoption  of  tlie   second  step   A\'as  more  diflicult.     AG       \^ 
vagn'o  but  deep-seated  dread,  growing  out  of  a  recent  expe-  ^ 
rience  of  the  power  of  the    Federal   Government,  which  had  ^ 

not  returned  to  the  old  constitutional  <,'hannels  from  which 
it  had  been  diverted  by  the  war,  pervaded  the  State.  The 
Reconstruction  Government,  which  owed  its  origin  to  the  ^^ 
Federal  Congress,  had  been  recently  established  here.  The 
Republican  party  had  established  that  government,  and  that 
party  swayed  the  powers  of  the  Federal  Government  in 
every  department.  Any  action  toward  removing  the  high- 
est official  in  the  State  might  be  construed  by  that  p.irtv 
into  a  menace  against  the  Reconstruction  Government,  and 
lead  to  a  speedy  and  decisive  interposition  by  the  Federal 
Government.  ^Mr.  Graham  did  not  participate  in  these  ap- 
prehensions. His  views  are  best  expressed  in  his  own  words: 
"I  do  not  believe,"  he  said,  "the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  will  depart  from  that  Constitution  under  which  we 
are  now  living  in  harmony ;  and  that  when  the  State  of 
i^ortli  Carolina  renewed  her  constitutional  relations  to  the 


(66) 

Federal  Government,  she  came  back  with  all  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  a  sovereign  State  ;  and  that  her  State  Senators 
and  Representatives,  Avhen  charged  with  dnties  by  the  peo- 
ple, are  to  perform  their  functions  under  the  same  responsi- 
bilities that  belong  to  the  Senators  and  Representatives  of 
any  State  of  the  Union."  These  weighty  views,  in  ^^■hich 
there  was  a  general  concurrence  among  the  ablest  and  most 
trusted  public  men  of  the  State,  prevailed.  On  the  14th  of 
December,  1870,  a  resolution  was  adopted  b}'  the  House  of 
Representatives  of  North  Carolina,  that  the  Governor  of 
N^orth  Carolina  be  impeached  of  high  crimes  and  misde- 
meanors. On  the  23d  of  December  the  Court  of  Impeach- 
ment was  duly  organized,  and  sat  forty  days.  The  judg- 
ment of  the  court  was  that  the  Governor  be  deposed  from 
office,  and  forever  disqualified  from  holding  any  office  of 
profit  or  trust  in  this  State. 

Mr.  Graham  was  the  first  counsel  named  amons;  the  emi- 
iient  gentlemen  of  the  Bar  selected  to  assist  the  managers 
appointed  by  the  House  ;  and  he  bore  a  principal  part  in  the 
management  of  the  trial,  and  in  the  discussions  of  the  vari- 
ous qestions  of  evidence  which  arose  in  in  its  progress.  It 
was  assigned  to  him  to  make  the  first  of  the  speeches  in  the 
final  argument.  In  his  exordium  he  used  the  language 
quoted  above — language  which  embodied  the  advice  which 
he  had  given  to  the  members  of  the  Assemblj'  l:>y  whom  he 
had  been  consulted  when  the  impeachment  resolution  was 
pending.  The  passage  which  follows,  addressed  to  the  Sena- 
tors sitting  in  their  judicial  capacity,  evidently  lays  down 
the  rule  by  which  his  own  public  life  had  been  guided : 

"For  my  own  part,  I  have  to  say  to  every  public  man,  in 
re'^ard  to  his  public  life,  what  the  great  poet  represents  the 
angel  as  having  said  to  our  first  ancestor  : 

'Nor  love  thy  life,  nor  hate ;  but  what  thou  livest 
Live  vrell,  how  long  or  short  permit  to  heaven?'  " 

The  feelings  with  which  he  approached  this  trial  were  in 


(67) 

part  those  of  an  elder  generation.  He  was  born  and  brought 
up  among  a  people  conspicuous  for  their  gaUantr}'  and  sacri- 
fices in  the  Revohitionary  War.  The  section  in  which  they 
lived  was  singled  out  by  the  British  historians  as  that  which 
■%vas  the  most  active  and  inveterate  in  its  hostility.  His  own 
iincestry  in  that  section  had  given  the  best  years  of  their 
life — had  olfered  their  means  without  limit — had  shed  their 
tblood  on  many  fields  for  the  assertion  of  the  great  principles 
<of  liberty.  The  establishment  of  a  free  government  was  to 
Mm  the  dearly  bought  acquisition  of  his  patriotic  sires,  to 
ibe  transmitted  to  children's  children.  The  great  principles 
<of  liberty  embodied  in  the  Bill  of  Rights  and  in  the  Consti- 
tution "were  a  part  of  his  personal  inheritance.  Any  usur- 
pation of  power  by  the  government,  au}^  encroachment  upon 
the  rights  of  the  people,  he  regarded  as  an  invasion  of  his 
own  birth-right — as  a  personal  wrong  and  grievance. 

All  such  usurpations  and  encroachments  he  brought  to  a 
rstandard,  just,  if  severe.  Political  science  had  been  one  of 
the  favorite  studies  of  his  life.  In  the  history  of  govern- 
ment of  every. kin^l  he  was  well  versed.  He  regarded  a  well 
ordered  State  as  the  highest  achievement  of  man.  He  kne%v 
that  two  thousand  years  ago  man  had  carried  the  arts  and 
many  branches  of  science  to  the  highest  pitch  of  perfection. 
He  knew  that  no  free  government  could  boast  an  existence 
of  more  than  two  hundred  years.  As  well  regulated  liberty 
was  the  latest  gift  of  time,  so  its  value  was  above  all  others 
to  be  prized.  It  was  that  wdiich  gave  value  to  everj'thino- 
else;  since  upon  that  the  value  of  everything  else  depends. 
A  blow  in  this  direction,  involving  all  that  men  prize  and 
<cherish,  w^as  to  be  redressed  by  the  heaviest  and  most  last- 
ing of  civil  penalties. 

The  speech  of  Mr.  Graham  in  this  trial  was  one  of  very 
."great  ability.  With  the  feelings  to  which  I  have  referred, 
it  might  have  been  anticipated  that  he  would  occasionally 
launch  out  into  denunciation  and  invective  against  one  who 
hj}A  trodden  under  foot  the  Constitution  and  laws,  and  defied 


(G8) 

the  Chief  Justice  of  the  State.  But  amidst  the  intensity  of 
his  feelings  his  wonted  self-command  did  not  for  a  moment 
desert  him.  It  was  a  trial  of  one  who  had  been  charged, 
with  the  grossest  violations  of  the  highest  of  human  rights  ;. 
and  it  was  [ilainly  his  purpose  that  no  sentence,  phrase  or 
word  of  his  should  afford  ground  for  the  assertion  that 
political  animosity  or  prejudice  had  aught  to  do  with  the 
judgment  which  he  believed  would  be  pronounced  by  the  high 
court  before  which  the  Executive  was  arraigned.  That  j udg- 
ment  should  be  the  irresistible  dictate  of  reason,  one  ini 
which  the  feelings  should  have  no  share.  This  occasion  ad- 
mits of  no  extended  analysis  of  that  speech ;  but  I  cannot 
refrain  from  saying  that,  for  clear  and  masterly  statement- 
of  the  several  charges  embraced  in  the  articles  of  impeach' 
ment ;  for  skillful  analysis  of  the  testimony  and  of  the  spe-- 
cious  pretences  urged  in  defence,  which,  combined  ^vith  a 
dextrous  array  of  facts  and  authorities,  seemed  to  promise- 
immunity  to  the  accused ;  for  the  force  and  jjovver  withi 
which  all  these  Avere  sifted,  exposed  and  refuted  ;  above  alB 
for  the  constitutional  and  common  law  learning,  so  apposite^ 
so  conclusive,  poured  forth  in  the  course  of  that  speech,  it 
deserves  a  high  place  among  the  best  efforts  of  that  kind.- 
So  completely  was  every  point  of  law  and  fact  covered  by 
Mr.  Graham  that  the  eminent  counsel  who  concluded  oib 
behalf  of  the  managers  confined  himself  to  a  re-statement  of 
the  positions  taken  by  hiin,  and  to  such  further  discussion* 
as  was  rendered  necessarj-  in  reply.  That  speech  will  not 
fail  to  be  studied  whenever  the  great  })rinciples  of  govern- 
ment then  involved  shall   come  to  be  again  defended  here. 

As  has  been  said,  he  Avas  not  permitted  to  take  his  seat  iin 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States-  But  while  he  was  debarred 
tlie  enjoyment  of  those  honors  which  his  State  would  haver 
conferred  upon  him,  he  was  the  recipient  of  other  honors  oi* 
the  highest  kind — honors  which  the  higliest  in  earthly 
estate  misfht  have  envied. 

Mr.  Peabody,  whose  great  heart  had  been  moved  by  the 


(69) 

--misfortunes  of  the  Southern  people,  conceived  the  idea  of 
-employing  some  portion  of  the  princely  fortune  with  which 
Providence  had  hlessed  him  for  the  permanent  benefit  of 
that  people.  lie  was  a  Xorthern  ;iian  by  birth,  and  as  such 
had  little  sj-mpathy  with  the  ends  Avhich  the  South  sought 
to  accomplish  by  the  war.  But  he  knew  that  our  fathers 
had  fought  for  an  idea  in  the  war  of  independence, 
and  that  the  South  had  fought  for  an  idea  in  the  civil  war ; 
lie  could  not  recognize  that  as  guilt  in  us,  which  was  a 
source  of  pride  and  boast  in  our  common  ancestors.  He  con- 
templated no  mere  eleemosynary  institution  ;  a  people  who 
had  exhibited  such  constancy  and  valor  as  they  had  display- 
•ed  during  the  war — though  great  suffering  among  them  was 
inevitable — could  not  long  want  aid  of  that  kind.  But  the 
interest  of  education  at  the  South  had  not  kept  pace  with 
the  same  interest  at  the  Xorth,  where  the  people  were  homo- 
geneous, and  where  the  eftbrts  of  all  were  directed  to  that 
■end.  The  apprehension  felt — too  surel}^  justified  by  the  re- 
sult— was  that  when  the  people  of  the  South  came  to  esti- 
mate their  losses  by  the  war,  the  sense  of  these  losses, 
coupled  with  their  poverty,  would  lead  to  still  further  neg- 
lect of  that  most  important  interest.  It  was  to  the  interest 
of  education,  then,  that  the  great  philanthropist  resolved  to 
iiddress  his  beneficence.  His  plan  required  the  interposition 
•of  trustees,  and  it  was  necessary  that  tlie}^  should  be  men 
.eminent  for  abilities  and  virtue  and  of  national  reputation. 
Mr.  Graham,  in  whom  all  these  requisites  met,  was  one  of 
the  three  or  four  trustees  selected  from  the  South.  Through 
ii  common  friend,  the  Hon.  Mr.  "Winthrop,  of  Massachu- 
setts, Mr.  Graham  was  invited  to  meet  Mri  Peabod}^  and  two 
.or  three  other  gentlemen  in  Feb.,  1867,  in  the  city  of  Wash- 
higton.  The  result  is  well  known.  The  beneficent  plan  was 
put  operation,  and  now  3'ields  its  valuable  fruits  to  thous- 
ands of  the  children  of  our  land.  Mr.  Graham  entered 
warmly  into  Mr.  Peabody's  views.  He  attended  with  great 
regularity  the  meetings  of  the  board  of  trustees,  and  partici- 


-^^ 


(70) 

pated  in  all  its  counsels.  lie  seconded  the  resolutions  which 
were  adopted  by  the  board  upon  the  death  of  the  great 
philanthropist,  and  then  gave  expression  in  fit  and  eloquent 
words  to  the  sense  of  his  loss  here  felt.  The  South  has  no 
means  to  commemorate  her  gratitude  to  this  illustrious  man 
in  "statues,  storied  urns  or  animated  busts,"  but  his  benefac- 
tions have  sunk  deep  into  the  hearts  of  our  people,  and  the- 
honor  with  which  his  name  is  everywhere  mentioned  among 
us  is,  perhaps,  the  noblest  monument  to  his  fame. 

Sometime  after  he  received  another  marked  testimonial 
to  the  high  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  by  States  as  well 
as  individuals.  The  boundary  line  between  the  States  of 
Virginia  and  Maryland  had  long  been  undefined,  and  had 
produced  embarrassment  in  the  administration  of  the  laws- 
M'ithin  the  disputed  limits,  and,  in  some  conflicting  interestSy 
had  nearly  led  to  a  collision  between  citizens  of  the  two- 
States.  It  was  determined  to  adjust  the  matter  by  arbitra- 
tion. The  grand  old  Commonwealth  of  Virginia — grander" 
in  the  virtues  which  she  has  displayed  in  her  misfortunes^ 
than  those  which  she  exhibited  in  her  prosperity ;  insomuch 
that  Ave  check  the  current  of  compassion  for  her  misfortunes-, 
in  the  thought  that  the  world  will  be  the  better  for  the  ex- 
ample which  she  has  afl:brded  under  adversity — confided  her 
interests  to  Mr.  Graham.  Some  meetings  took  place  be- 
tween him  and  the  arbitrator  selected  by  the  State  of  Mary- 
land ;  but  no  award  had  been  rendered  at  the  date  of  his 
death,  and  the  matter  was  left  unadjusted. 

In  the  year  1875 — upon  the  4th  of  February — he  presided 
over  a  meeting  held  in  Charlotte  to  take  steps  for  the  prop- 
er celebration  of  the  Centennial  of  the  Mecklenburg  Decla- 
ration  of  Independence.  Some  writers  of  ability  had  seized 
upon  that  event,  and  in  that  spirit  of  historical  skepticism! 
so  rife  in  our  days,  had  undertaken,  out  of  a  few  minor  dis- 
crepancies, to  deny  the  genuineness  of  the  Declaration,  or 
that  any  meeting  was  held  on  the  20th  of  May.  Mr.  Gra- 
ham had  been  often-  solicited  to  place  that  event  upon  its 


(71) 

proper  basis.  lie  had  heard  it  often  talked  of  at  his  father's 
lire-side  ;  he  knew  all  the  traditions  connected  with  it ;  he 
had  known  and  talked  with  many  of  the  subscribers  of  that 
Declaration;  he  was  well  acquainted  with  public  opinion  re- 
garding it,  in  that  section  where  the  event  occurred,  down 
to  the  date  of  its  publication  in  1S20.  For  a  long  time  mo- 
tives of  delicacy,  growing  out  of  his  connection  with  some 
of  the  principal  actors,  restrained  him.  But,  at  that  time, 
all  the  actors  had  passed  away  ;  they  could  no  longer  be 
heard  ;  and  a  just  regard  for  their  fame  urged  his  acquies- 
cence. He  embodied  his  vindication  in  the  form  of  an  ad- 
dress which  he  delivered  on  this  occasion.  Iso  fair  synopsis 
of  that  address  is  possible  ;  it  is  a  solid,  compact  argument 
which  would  be  greatly  impaired  by  an}'  attempt  at  abridg- 
ment. Let  it  suffice  to  say  tliat  the  evidence  is  arrayed  in 
the  spirit  of  the  philosophical  historian,  and  with  the  skill 
of  a  consummate  lawyer.  It  will  not  put  to  silence  the 
mere  caviller  ;  no  amount  of  evidence  will  on  this  or  any 
other  subject ;  but  the  candid  inquirer  will  rise  from  its  pe- 
rusal with  the  conviction  that  few  events  in  history  rest 
upon  a  firmer  foundation  than  the  Mecklenburg  Declaration 
of  Independence. 

Mr.  Graham  left  behind  many  literary  essays,  but  none 
which  were  prompted  by  mere  desire  for  literarj^  distinction. 
His  efibrts  of  this  kind  were  all  the  result  of  passing  events  ; 
all  the  fruit  of  hours  snatched  from  an  absorbing  profession. 
Yet  if  collected  together  they  would  form  a  considerable 
volume  ;  and  if  we  consider  their  contents  they  give  a  high 
idea  of  the  intellect  which  could  find  its  relaxation  in  such 
labors.  The  dominant  feeling  of  his  life  was  loyalty  to  the 
State  and  her  institutions  ;  hence  the  subjects  usually  selec- 
ted by  him  were  drawn  from  her  history. 

Among  these  was  a  lecture  delivered  at  Greensboro,  in 
1860.  The  citizens  of  that  section  of  country,  of  which 
Greensboro  is  the  centre,  contemplated  the  erection  of  a 
monument  to  commemorate  the  services   of  General  Greene 


(72) 

ill  the  Revolutionary  struggle.  This  lecture  was  delivered 
in  aid  of  the  enterprise,  and  embraced  a  life  of  Greene  and  a 
Listory  of  Revolutionary  events  in  this  State.  A  copy 
was  solicited  for  publication,  but  from  some  cause  it  was 
never  published.  It  remains  in  manuscript,  full  and  entire, 
^s  if  prepared  for  the  press.  Here  may  be  mentioned  the 
two  Memorial  Addresses — the  one  upon  the  life  and  charac- 
ter of  Hon.  George  E.  Badger,  and  the  other  of  Hon.  Thomas 
Ruffin.  These  line  addresses,  which  have  received  the 
commendations  of  many  of  the  most  competent  judges, 
ISTorlh  and  South,  are  too  fresh  in  the  recollection  of  all  to 
need  any  comment. 
^V-  This  record  would  be  most  imperfect  did  it  fail  to  bring 
,.  ^  into  the  most  prominent  relief  the  services  of  ]SIr.  Graham 
^jU,  in  his  office  of  trustee  of  the  University.  He  regarded  the 
'  University  as  the  best  ornament  of  the  State,  and  no  one  of 
all  its  sons  nursed  it  with  a  more  devoted  or  wiser  care.  He 
attended  all  its  commencemenJ:s,  and  was  most  active  in 
watching  over  all  its  interests.  No  one  labored  with  more 
zeal  for  its  restoration  to  the  control  of  the  true  sons  of  the 
State.  For  many  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  Executive 
Committee,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  the  Chair- 
man of  that  Committee.  It  was  to  him,  finall}'',  that  Gov- 
ernor Swain,  in  the  last  3^ears  of  his  successful  administra- 
tion, looked  for  direction  and  support  in  all  its  trials  and 
embarrassments. 

"It  is  not  unusual  for  men  of  eminence,"  said  Judge 
Story*  "after  having  withdrawn  from  the  Bar  to  find  it  dif- 
ficult, if  not  not  impracticable,  to  resume  their  former  rank 
■^  in  business."  Mr.  Graham  experienced  no  such  difficulty. 
Though  often  called  from  his  profession  to  jxiblic  station,  at 
the  first  court  at  which  he  appeared  after  his  term  of  office 
expired,  he  was  retained  in    all  important  causes,  and  busi- 


*  "Miscellaneous  Writings"  Sketch  of  Hon.  Samuel  Dexter. 


(73) 

ness  flowed  in  upon  him  thenceforth  as  if  he  had  never  been 
absent.  In  common  with  all  the  people  of  the  South,  his 
resources  had  been  somewhat  impaired  by  the  war,  and 
when  civil  government  was  restored  he  resumed  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession  with  more  than  his  w^onted  ardor.  lie 
returned  to  all  the  courts  of  his  former  circuit ;  the  business 
of  which  had  greatly  increased  by  the  general  settlement  of 
all  previous  transactions  which  took  place  after  the  war. 
The  business  of  the  circuit  and  district  courts — both  of  which 
he  regularly  attended — had  been  greatly  enlarged  by  the 
new  sj'stem  of  revenue  laws  and  other  changes  introduced 
by  the  war,  but,  above  all,  by  the  bankrupt  laws  then  re- 
cently enacted.  These  with  appeals  to  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  State,  and  appeals  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  increased  his  labors,  protracted  his  absences  from 
home,  and  left  him  few  intervals  for  repose.  It  was  felt  by 
his  friends  that  he  was  overtaxing  his  strength  by  these 
great  exertions,  but  there  was  no  abatement  of  his  energies 
until  about  a  year  before  his  death.  Symptoms  then  ap- 
l^eared  which  inspired  deep  apprehensions.  It  seemed  but 
too  certain  that  disease  had  fixed  itself  upon  some  of  the 
great  organs  of  life.  lie  now  gave  up  attendance  upon 
courts,  but  still  watched  over  the  progress  of  his  causes,  and 
labored  in  the  preparation  of  briefs — the  causes  themselves 
being  argued  by  his  son,  Maj.  Graham.  lie  was  pre-emin- 
ently a  worker  and  he  continued  to  work  to  the  end.  At 
length  the  symptoms  became  more  distressing,  and  he  re- 
paired to  Philadelphia  to  consult  the  eminent  physicians  of 
that  city.  The  result  confirmed  the  opinion  before  enter- 
tained that  his  malady  was  disease  of  the  heart.  Upon  his 
return  home  he  continued  his  labors  in  his  ofiice.  It  was 
only  under  physical  exertion  that  his  malad}^  gave  him 
trouble ;  when  in  repose  he  "was  capable  of  as  great  mental 
efforts  as  ever. 

At  this  period  of  comparative  inaction  that  fortunate  des- 
tiny which  presided  over  his  life  was  constant  to  him  still. 


(74) 

The  pain,  which  was  incident  to  liis  malady,  was  only  felt 
at  intervals,  and  then  was  not  severe.  Apart  from  this, 
there  was  every  possible  compensation.  Besides  the  depart- 
ment of  professional  labor  still  left  to  him,  he  had  the 
boundless  resources  of  literature,  ancient  and  modern,  which 
in  the  busiest  periods  of  his  life  he  had  always  cultivated 
and  justly  prized.  Every  day,  moreover,  brought  to  him  in 
the  visits  of  friends,  or  through  the  mails,  in  news  papers 
and  letters,  some  new  testimonial  of  esteem  and  regard,  pub- 
lic or  private.  But  above  any  and  all  of  these,  he  could  now 
enjoy  without  interruption  those  pleasures,  in  which,  amidst 
his  most  brilliant  successes,  he  ever  found  his  chief  happiness 
the  pleasures  of  home  and  its  sweet  endearments. 

Mr.  Graham  had  been  nominated  by  acclamation  by  the 
people  of  Orange  for  the  Constitutional  Convention  which 
sat  in  September,  1875,  but  the  state  of  his  health  rendered 
it  impossible  for  him  to  undergo  the  labors  of  the  canvass. 
This  was  not  needed  on  his  own  account,  but  his  absence 
from  the  hustings  was  regretted  on  account  of  the  Conven- 
tion cause.  lie  published,  however,  a  strong  address  to  his 
constituents  ;  which  was  widely  circulated,  and  had  an  im- 
portant influence  on  the  result. 

A  meeting  of  the  boundary  Commissioners  had  been  ar- 
ranged to  take  place  at  Saratoga  Springs,  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  in  the  month  of  August,  1875.  Thither  Mr. 
Graham  accordingly  went,  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Graham 
and  his  youngest  son.  For  many  days  he  appeared  to  be  in 
his  usual  health ;  but  a  great  change  was  at  hand.  After  an 
evening  spent  W' ith  his  friends,  whose  society  he  enjoyed 
with  more  than  his  w^onted  zest,  he  retired  a  little  beyond 
his  accustomed  hour.  Soon  after  the  symptoms  of  his  dis- 
ease recurred  in  aggravated  form.  Physicians  were  sum- 
moned who  ministered  promptly,  but  ineffectuall3\  Mean- 
time the  news  of  his  situation  spread,  and  messages  of  in- 
quiry and  offers  of  personal  services  testified  to  the  general 
and  deep  concern.     But  all  that  science  and  the  most  affec- 


i 


(75) 

tiouate  solicitude  could  suggest  proved  unavailing.  He  ex- 
pired at  6  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  Wednesday,  the  lltb 
of  August,  1875. 

It  had  long  been  believed,  by  those  who  knew  him  best, 
that  Mr.  Graham  was  at  heart  a  Christian.  It  is  with  inex- 
pressible gratification,  I  am  able  to  add,  that  when  ap- 
proached on  this  subject  during  the  last  daj^s  of  his  life,  he 
freely  expressed  his  hope  of  salvation  through  our  crucified 
Redeemer. 

The  intelligence  of  his  death  was  transmitted  by  telegraph 
to  every  part  of  the  country.  All  the  great  journals  responded 
with  leading  articles  expressive  of  the  national  bereavement. 
Numerous  meetings  were  held — meetins-s  of  the  Bar,  meet- 
ings  of  citizens,  meetings  of  political  opponents,  for  political 
enemies  he  had  none — to  give  their  estimate  of  the  illustri- 
ous deceased,  and  to  speak  their  sense  of  his  loss.  The  States 
of  Virginia  and  Maryland,  with  that  high  sense  of  delicacy 
which  marks  all  their  public  acts,  took  care  that  the  remains 
of  'one  who  had  stood  in  such  honored  relations  to  each, 
should  be_ conveyed  with  due  honor  across  their  bounds.  At 
the  borders  of  our  State  they  Avere  received  by  a  committee 
appointed  by  the  Bar  of  Raleigh;  by  a  committee  appointed 
by  the  Mayor  and  common  council  of  that  city,  and  by  a 
committee  from  Hillsborough,  and  conveyed  by  special  train 
to  Raleigh.  There  they  were  received  b}^  appointed 
committees — by  the  Raleigh  Light  Infantry,  by  the 
Raleigh  Light  Artillery,  (of  both  of  which  companies 
he  was  an  honorary  member),  by  the  LTmted  States 
troops  from  Camp  Russell,  and  accompanied  by  a 
great  concourse  of  the  citizens,  conveyed  to  the  capitol. 
There  the  remains  were  deposited  in  the  rotunda,  which  was 
draped  in  mourning  for  the  occasion.  Late  in  the  afternoon 
of  the  same  day  they  were  conveyed  with  similar  ceremo- 
nies to  the  Central  Station.  From  thence,  attended  by  the 
Raleigh  companies,  and  by  special  guards  of  honor,  appointed 
by  cities  and  towns  of  the  State,  and  by  the  family  of  the 


(76) 

-deceased,  they  were  conveyed  by  special  train  to  the  station 
iit  Hillsborough,  From  thence  they  were  escorted,  with  the 
addition  of  the  whole  population  of  the  town,  to  his  man- 
sion, where  they  lay  in  state  till  the  noon  of  Sunday,  the 
15th.  At  that  hour  they  were  conveyed  to  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  and,  after  appropriate  funeral  services,  were  in- 
terred with  solemn  ceremony,  amid  an  immense  concourse, 
gathered  from  many  counties,  in  the  grave-yard  of  that 
r^j      church. 

^,..^f'^  The  intellect  of  Mr.  Graham  was  of  a  rare  order.  For  the 
CU^'  business  of  life,  public  and  private,  it  may  be  said  to  have 
been  perfect.  Though  in  the  endowments  of  genius — taking 
that  word  in  its  extended  sense — he  assuredly  Avas  not  want- 
ing ;  yet,  like  all  who  have  accomplished  much,  he  trusted 
little  to  its  unaided  impulses  and  suggestions.  Very  seldom 
did  he  call  to  his  aid  the  powers  of  imagination  in  his 
speeches  or  writings.  The  bent  of  his  genius  did  not  lead 
him  to  indulge  in  vivid  painting,  glowing  imagery  or  bold 
contrasts.  With  this  faculty  so  restrained  we  would  not 
seek  in  his  speeches  for  passages  of  the  highest  oratorical 
merit.  In  them  will  be  found  none  of  those  hio-h-wrous-ht 
appeals,  invocations  or  adjurations  in  which  the  orator  gives 
utterance  to  excited  feelings  ;  nothing  which  would  show 
the  man  possessed  and  transported  by  his  theme  ;  nothing 
of  that  passion  which  passes  by  electric  communication  from 
the  speaker  to  the  hearer  and  bears  him  along  by  a  force 
that  is  irresistible.  It  was  in  the  resources  of  a  clear,  capa- 
cious and  powerful  understanding,  sustained  and  enlarged 
by  a  special  and  inborn  capability  for  labor,  that  he  centered 
his  strength.  In  him  was  seen,  not  one  possessed  by  his 
theme,  but  one  who  was  master  of  himself  and  his  theme  ; 
not  one  who  would  hurry  his  hearers  along  desi:)ite  them- 
selves, but  one  who  by  persuasion  would  lead,  and  who  by 
.argument  would  convmce  his  audience.*     If,  then,  his  hear- 

*This  was  in  strict  observance  of  one  of  the  rules  enjoined  by  the  severe  taste 
-of  the  Attic  orators.    "Tlie  orator  must  always  show  that  he  was  master  of  him- 


(77) 

ers  missed  some  of  those  more  striking  forms  of  thought  iu) 
which  Imagination  delights,  they  were  more  than  compen- 
sated by  the  freer  play  and  wider  scope  tlius  given  to  the 
powers  of  reason.  In  this  respect  the  demands  of  the  judg- 
ment were  completely  satisfied.  In  truth,  for  the  purposes- 
of  the  lawyer  and  the  statesman,  he  was  all  the  better  foi" 
this  abstinent  use  of  a  faculty  which,  while  it  brightens  and 
adorns,  too  often  misleads — too  often  presents  truth  through- 
a  colored  and  false  medium.  Truth  took  no  color  in  his 
mind  from/alse  lights,  intellectual  or  moral.  It  was  this 
constitution  of  mind,  this  habitual  ward  and  absolute  con- 
trol over  every  faculty  that  could  mislead,  which,  united 
with  a  singular  equanimity  of  temper,  gave  him  a  power  in- 
which  he  was  surpassed  by  no  one ;  the  power  of  seeing 
things  in  their  true  proportions — of  seeing  things  precisely  as 
they  are.  It  was  this  moral  and  mental  equilibrium  which 
gave  him  a  judgment  which,  in  the  affairs  of  life,  seemed 
never  to  err.  Hence  it  was  that  he  was  the  trusted  coun- 
sellor of  every  friend  iu  difficulty  ;  often  of  the  Executive 
and  of  the  Leo;islature  of  the  State  in  cases  of  doubt  and 
embarrassment ;  always  of  the  people  in  everj^  time  of  polit- 
ical trouble. 

The  place  which  will  be  awarded  him  in  the  rank  of  ora- 
tprs  will  not  be  the  highest.  Indeed  at  oratorical  etiects, 
purely  as  such,  he  never  aimed.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that 
he  might  have  employed  the  resources  of  oratory,  other  than 
the  very  highest,  to  a  much  greater  extent  than  he  did.  All 
who  have  heard  him  in  capital  trials,  and  on  other  occasions 
when  great  interests  were  at  stake,  were  persuaded  that  he 
possessed  reserved  resources  of  this  kind  to  which  he  did  not 
give  play,  and  which  he  could  have  called  into  requisition 
at  will.  That  he  refrained  was  matter  of  deliberate  judg- 
ment.    He  preferred  to  address  himself  to  the  understand- 


seif,  and  never  was  run  aw  ly  Miih  hy  the  vehemence  of  the  moment."— Lmxl 
Brovghara' s  Dissei  talim  on,  Ihv  Elnqusnce  of  (he  Ancients. 


(78) 

ing.  He  relied  wholly  upon  argument,  disdaining  the  ad- 
juncts of  mere  rhetoric.  He  knew  that  the  triumphs  of  rea- 
son are  more  durable  than  those  which  are  the  offspring  of 
excited  feeling.  Reaction  and  change  follow  the  latter ;  the 
former  leave  full,  permanent  conviction. 

As  a  parliamentary  speaker  and  as  an  advocate  he  stood 
in  the  first  rank.  His  style  was  that  which  iinds  so  much 
favor  among  eminent  English  statesman,  that  style  in  which 
the  results  of  thought  and  research  are  given  with  the  warmth 
and  ease  of  animated  and  unpremeditated  conversation.*  In 
this  style  of  speaking  supreme  excellence  is  more  difficult 
to  attain  than  in  any  other.  It  demands  a  perfect  mastery  of 
the  subject,  entire  possession  of  all  the  faculties  of  the  mind, 
and  a  command  of  language  copious,  pure  and  idiomatic. 
Such  speakers  address  themselves  professedly  to  the  judg- 
ment. They  challenge  criticism,  and  seek  no  protection 
from  those  fervors  of  feeling  which  it  is  the  object  of  the 
orator  to  excite.     In  this  style  of  speaking  he  was  a  model. 

In  addition  to  his  high  intellectual  endowments,  nature 
had  to  him  been  profuse  in  external  gifts.  In  person  he  was 
the  ideal  of  the  patrician.  His  features,  regular  and  classic 
in  their  outline,  would  have  satisfied  a  sculptor.  The  ha- 
bitual expression  of  his  face  was  one  of  blended  thought,  re- 
finement and  quiet  will.  His  form  was  noble  and  com- 
manding ;  cast,  indeed,  in  nature's  finest  mould.  These 
advantages  were  set  off  by  a  dress  always  scrupulously  neat, 
and  sufficiently  conformed  to  the  prevailing  mode  to  escape 
observation.  The  advantages,  thus  slightly  touched  upon, 
were  singularly  calculated  to  impress  favorably  the  mind  of 
any  audience.  If  we  add  that  he  appeared  before  every 
audience  with  the  prestige  of  a  character,  which  calumny 


*Sir  James  Molntosh  remarked,  that  "the  true  light  in  which  to  consider 
speaking  in  the  House  of  Commons  was  as  an  animated  conversation  on  public 
business,  and  tliat  it  was  rare  for  any  speecli  to  succeed  wliich  was  raised  on 
any  other  basis.  Canning  joined  in  this  opinion  "—iyOJidon  Quarterly  Revieiv, 
April,  IS-SS. 
t 


('9) 

itself  would  own  to  be  without  a  blemish,  the  causes  of  his 
uniform  success  are  easy  to  discern. 

In  his  discussions,  whether  of  the  Senate  or  of  the  Forum 
no  man  was  ever  freer  from  any  of  those  intellectual  artifices 
to  which  speakers  sometimes  resort.  He  approached  his 
adversary's  stronghold  by  no  circuitous  lines  ;  he  practiced 
no  feints  to  draw  off  attention  from  his  own  weak  points. 
Indirection  of  any  kind  was  foreign  to  his  nature.  There 
were  no  bold  attacks,  no  sudden  onsets.  His  speeches  were 
iihvays  clear,  strong,  convincing  ;  on  great  occasions  they 
resembled  a  triumphal  march — a  quiet  but  imposing  display 
of  strength.  In  intellectual  conflicts  his  self-possession  never 
failed  him.  If  his  antagonist,  in  his  assault  upon  his  posi- 
tion, chanced  to  carry  any  of  his  out-works,  he  referred 
to  it  with  an  easy,  careless  indifference  that  impressed 
all  hearers  with  the  idea  that  his  opponent  had  misdirected 
his  attack  and  thrown  away  his  strength.  The  effect  of  this 
temporary  advantage  being  thus  weakened  or  destroyed, 
he  threw  out  some  brief,  pregnant  suggestions,  which  served 
to  fortify  anew  the  damaged  point.  At  the  Bar  his  case 
was  always  pfesentad  in  its  strongest  aspect.  The  leading 
principles  of  law  were  clearly  enunciated  ;  his  discussions  of 
them  were  clear,  pointed  and  full.  He  then  proceeded  to 
support  the  case  from  the  testimony  adduced.  In  this  re- 
spect he  was  unsurpassed.  His  mind  had  been  subjecteil  to 
such  thorough  discipline  that  it  worked  with  mechanical 
ease  and  accuracy.  The  evidence,  however  multifarious,  fell 
at  once  into  due  order  and  compact  array.  His  vast  ac- 
quaintance with  the  business  of  life,  in  every  phase,  enabled 
him  to  see  in  facts  a  significance  and  bearing  that  would  be 
perceived  by  few,  and  to  use  and  apply  them  in  a  way  at ' 
once  ingenious,  startling  and  legitimate.  His  insight  into 
character — originally  keen,  and  so  improved  by  contact  with 
men  in  every  class  of  life  that  it  had  grown  into  an  intuition — 
was  brought  to  bear  with  decisive  effect  in  every  case  of 
conflicting  testimony.     In  such  cases  he  reasoned  upon  the 


(80) 

motives  of  men  with  almost  irresistible  force  and  power. 
He  clierished  the  highest  idea  of  the  dignity  of  his  pro- 
fession, and  his  practice  of  it  was  regulated  l)y  the  moat 
exalted  principle.  The  rule  of  professional  Ci^nduct  laid 
down  by  Lord  Brougham,  as  counsel  for  (Jueen  Caroline,  it 
will  be  remembered,  was  as  follows  :  ^'An  advocate,  by  the 
sacred  duty  which  he  owes  to  his  client,  knows  in  the  dis- 
charge of  that  office  but  one  person  in  the  world,  and  none 
other.  To  save  that  client  by  all  expedient  means — to  pro- 
tect that  client  at  all  hazards  and  cost  to  all  others,  and 
among  others  to  himself — is  the  highest  and  most  unques- 
tioned of  his  duties;  and  he  must  not  regard  the  alarm,  the 
suffering,  the  torment,  the  destruction  which  he  ma}'  Ijring 
upon  any  other."'  This  rule  he  coudenmod  and  repudiated. 
His  own  conduct  was  conformed  to  the  priuci[)les  laid  down 
by  Lord  Langdale  in  Hutchinson  vs.  Stephens :  "Xo  counsel 
supposes  himself  to  be  the  mere  advocate  or  agent  of  his- 
client  to  gain  a  victory,  if  he  can,  on  a  particular  occasion. 
The  zeal  and  arguments  of  every  counsel,  knowing  what  is- 
due  to  himself  and  his  honorable  profession,  are  qualitied  not 
only  by  considerations  atlecting  his  own  character  as  :t  man 
of  honor,  experience  and  learning,  but  also  b}'  consideration!^ 
aft'ecting  the  general  interests  of  justice."  Within  the  do- 
main of  the  principles  here  announced,  there  never  lived  a 
counsel  who  exceeded  him  in  zeal,  iidelity  and  constancy  to 
the  interests  of  his  client,  or  in  untiagging  hope  in  his  final 
triumph. 

He  possessed  in  many  respects  the  temperament  of  a  great 
conimantler.  As  difficulties  thickened  around  him  his  cour- 
age seemed  to  rise,  and  his  resources  to  develoj).  Xo  man- 
ever  fought  a  losing  cause  with  more  courage  and  constancy. 
When  in  important  cases  the  tide'of  testimony  unexpectedly 
turned  and  flowed  dead  against  him  there  was  nothing  in 
his  look  or  manner  that  betrayed  the  change.  His 
attention  would  be  redoubled,  but  in  all  else  tliere 
was    so   much    of    calm    composure  that    lookers-on,  inat- 


(81) 

tentive  to  tlie  evidence,  have  left  the  Court  House 
under  the  impression  that  he  would  gahi  the  cause  He 
preserved,  under  all  circumstances  in  the  trial  of  causes,  the 
lofty  tenor  of  his  bearing.  He  was  never  betrajed^  into  an 
altercation  with  witnesses.  It  may  be  that  awe  of  his  char-' 
acter,  and  a  consciousness  of  his  practiced  sagacity  and  pen- 
etration constrained  witnesses,  when  in  his  hands,  to  an  un- 
wonted utterance  of  the  truth.  This  impression  may  have 
been  assisted,  and  probably  was,  by  the  fairness  and  integri- 
ty observable  in  his  whole  bearing.  But  whatever  the  cause, 
it  is  certain  he  nev^er  resorted  to  boisterous  tones  or  a  brow- 
beating manner.  Equally  removed  was  his  manner  from  all 
the  arts  of  cajolery.  In  his  examination  of  the  most  refrac- 
tory witness  his  mien  was  calm,  his  look  observant  and  pen- 
etrating, his  voice  never  or  but  slightly  raised  above  its  or- 
dinary tone.  In  such  a  contest,  the  contest  between  acute, 
disciplined  reason,  and  cunning  or  obstinate  knavery,  the 
victory  was  always  on  the  side  of  the  former. 

In  his  moral  constitution  he  was  complete  on  every  side. 
All  his  conduct  in  life  was  regulated  not  only  by  the  hio-h 
est  sense  of  honor,  but  by  the  most  scrupulous  sense  of  duty. 
This  supreme  sense  of  duty  in  every  thing  that  he  did, 
whether  great  or  small,  was  his  distinguishing  characteris- 
tic. From  his  cradle  to  his  grave  not  a  shadow  of  a  shade 
ever  rested  upon  him.  Esteeming  a  stainless  character  as 
the  highest  of  all  earthly  possessions,  he  exercised  the  most 
scrupulous  caution  in  his  judgment  of  athers.  Pew  men 
were  more  often  in  the  public  arena.  He  took  part  in  all 
the  political  canvasses  of  his  time  ;  in  many  of  which  parti- 
san feeling  was  inflamed  to  the  highest  pitch.  Yet  he  never 
assailed  the  motives  of  his  opponent  and  never  left  any  feel- 
ing of  personal  injury  rankling  in  his  bosom.  He  always 
contended  for  principle,  and  disdained  to  use  any  argument 
which  reason  would  not  sanction. 

In  debate  he  was  a  model  of  candor,  and  whoever  might 
be  his  opponent  he  would  always  accept  Mr.  Graham's  state- 


(82) 

iiient  of  his  position.  In  all  his  intellectual  conflicts,  wheth- 
er at  the  I'ar,  on  the  hustings  or  in  the  Senate,  under  no 
provocation  was  he  ever  excited  to  an  unseemly  exhibition 
of  temper.  "Although  **  said  a  gentleman  of  high  distinc- 
tion who  knew  him  long  and  well :-  "  Although  I  have 
been  present  at  the  Bar,  and  upon  other  public  occasions 
when  he  must  have  been  greatly  tried,  I  have  never  seen  his 
countenance  degraded  bj'  an  expression  of  passion.  His 
look  may  at  times  liave  been  stern  and  high,  but  at  all  times 
it  could  with  advantage  have  been  committed  to  marble  or 
canvass." 

It  was  the  ojtinion  of  that  eminent  lawyer,  Archibald 
Henderson,  that  public  men  should  mingle  much  with  the 
people — that  there  is  to  be  found  the  true  .school  of  common 
sense.  Either  because  he  held  the  same  opinion,  but  more 
probably  from  inclination,  his  intercourse  with  the  people 
was  constant  and  cordial.  When  in  attendance  on  his  courts 
it  was  his  custom  when  the  day  was  fine  to  repair,  after  the 
adjournment  of  court,  to  the  portico  of  his  hotel,  or  the  >awn 
in  front  of  it,  and  sit  for  an  hour  or  two.  This  was  often 
his  custom  after  the  evening  meal,  usually  served  in  his 
circuit  at  hours  primitively  early.  Here  he  became  the 
centre  of  a  group  of  citizens  all  of  whom  he  received  with 
courtesy.  The  talk  on  such  occasions  was  free  and  general : 
and  v/hatever  the  topic  he  listened  to  their  views  with  at- 
tention, and  in  turn  frankly  gave  his  own.  Thus  his  in- 
formation in  regard  to  all  matters  of  general  interest  was 
minute  and  particular.  It  was  thus,  too,  that  he  became  in- 
formed as  to  the  current  opinion  in  regard  to  public  men  and 
public  measures.  This  intimate  knowledge  of  the  people 
was  one  of  the  great  sources  of  his  strength;  it  rendered  his 
judgment  of  the  probable  fate  of  State  and  National  ques- 
tions of  great  value.  His  judgment  upon  such  matters,  in 
the  counties  in  which  his  circuit  lay,  was  almost  infallible. 


*Hoii.  S.  F.  I'hillips. 


(83) 

In  bis  social  relations  Mr.  Graham  was  one  of  the  most 
attractive  of  men.  Few  had  so  wide  a  circle  of  friends,,  or 
friends  so  attached.  His  manner  to  all  men  was  urbane  ;  to 
his  friends  cordial  and  sincere.  There  was,  except  to  a  verj- 
few,  and  at  times  even  to  them,  a  shade  of  reserve  in  his 
manners  ;  but  there  was  nothing  of  pride;  nothing  expressive 
of  conscious  superiority.  There  was  great  dignity,  tempered 
by  unfailing  courtesy.  Perhaps  this  tinge  of  reserve  made 
his  subsequent  unbending  the  more  agreeable.  In  his  social 
hours,  in  the  long  winter  evenings  at  court,  with  the  circle 
gathered  around  the  blazing  hearth — it  is  as  he  was  then 
seen  that  his  friends  love  best  to  recall  him.  For  many 
years  there  met  together  at  one  of  his  courts  a  number  of 
gentlemen  of  high  intellectual  gifts  and  attainments.  These 
were  the  lion.  Robert  Gilliam,  the  Hon.  Abram  W.  Venable, 
the  present  Judge  of  the  7th  circuit  and  others  less  known. 
With  such  men  there  was  no  need  that  any  limitations 
should  be  imposed  on  the  conversation.  Except  in  the  field 
of  exact  science  they  were  very  much  at  home  in  all.  The 
conversation  ranged  wide,  law,  cases  in  court,  history, 
biography,"  politics — largely  interspersed  with  anecdotes — 
formed  the  topics.  But  rich  as  the  repast  was  in  all  respects, 
the  part  which  possessed  the  highest  interest  was  that  which 
was  individual  to  each ;  the  Avit  which  flashed  and  faded 
aA\-ay ;  the  humor  which  played  so  felicitously  in  its  legiti- 
mate sphere ;  reminiscences  of  personal  incidents,  reminis- 
cences of  celebrated  persons  and  events — the  latter  so  in- 
valuable to  the  historian  and  biographer.  Of  the  latter  kind 
the  contributions  made  by  Mr.  Graham  were  of  pre-eminent 
interest  and  value,  since  his  theatre  of  action  had  been  higher 
and  wider.  Had  those  conversations  been  taken  down  as 
they  occurred  they  would  have  formed  a  work,  which,  be- 
side the  exquisite  charms  of  wit  and  humor,  for  the  light 
which  it  would  have  thrown  on  life  and  manners,  for  shrewd 
observation  of  character,  for  striking  remarks  upon  subjects, 
moral,  social  and  political,  would  have  been  surpassed  by 
few  in  English  literature. 


(84) 

I  have  thus  placed  before  you  a  brief  and  imperfect'  sketch 
of  this  illustri«^us  man — how  imperfect  no  one  knows  better 
than  myself.  It  is  a  sketch  of  one  eminently  favored  of 
nature  in  his  personal  and  intellectual  gifts  ;  of  one  upon 
whom  fortune  delighted  to  bestow  lier  choicest  favors.  He 
was  the  recipient  of  every  honor,  except  those  voluntarily 
declined,  which  his  State  could  confer.  He  received  high 
honors  from  the  National  Government,  and  was  designated 
by  all  but  a  majority  of  his  countrymen  for  the  place  second 
in  rank  in  that  Government.  He  was  one  of  the  few  selected 
out  of  forty  millions  of  people  to  carry  out  the  most  com- 
prehensive scheme  of  benevolence  that  individual  philan- 
thropy ever  framed  for  the  human  race.  And  when  a  con- 
troversy arose  between  two  great  States,  second  in  lustre  to 
none  in  the  Union,  it  was  to  his  arbitrament,  and  that  ot  two 
others,  that  this  quasi-national  question  was  submitted.  To 
few  of  the  sons  of  men  have  been  allotted  so  splendid  a 

reer.  There  is  enough  here,  and  more  than  enough,  to 
satisfy  the  aspirations  of  the  loftiest  ambition.  But  in  the 
contet  Nation  of  that  life  he  must  be  blind  indeed  who  does 
not  ser-  that  the  moral  rises  high  over  the  intellectual  gran- 
deui  The  moral  dignity  of  man  never  received  a  higher 
illustration  than  in  the  life  before  us.  We  admire  the  pure 
Patriot  in  whose  thoughts  the  State — her  weal  and  her 
glory — was  ever  uppermost ;  the  learned  Jurist  who  from  his 
ample  stores  informed  and  moulded  the  laws  of  his  own 
commonwealth  ;  the  eloquent  Advocate  who  stood  always 
ready  to  redress  the  wrong,  whether  of  the  individual  or  the 
community  at  large ;  the  wise  Statesman  who  swayed  the 
destinies  of  his  State  more  than  any  of  his  generation.  But 
we  render  the  unfeigned  homage  of  the  heart  to  him,  who 
by  the  majesty  of  his  moral  nature,  passed  pure  and  unsul- 
lied through  the  wide  circle  of  trials  and  conflicts  embra<?ed 
in  his  life  ;  and  who,  in  his  death,  has  left  a  fame  that  will 
be  an  incentive  and  a  standard  to  the  generous  youth  of 
North  Carolina  through  all  the  ages  that  are  to  come. 


